You & I
by victoriamaslow
Summary: Jade has decided to start off her first year at college by living on her own. Of course, it's more difficult than it seems so she posts flyers for a new roommate. When she finds a potential applicant, will it be a dream or a living nightmare?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note:** Here it is, my first Kendall/Jade story. I love these two because they're such complete opposites and make for a great story. I'm not done with _You're the Reason_, yet. I'm working on the next chapter along with chapter two of this. Not much happens in this chapter since this is the very first one, but it'll get more interesting as it goes on. I hope this lives up to the expectations that I have for it. Enjoy!

* * *

Jade West stands in front of one of the millions of trees she's walked to today. College starts really soon and she needs a roommate, so she's been posting flyers around the campus and around town, hoping to find someone who will be interested. She knows that she's not going to pick the first person who calls, if they want to live with her, they have to pass the interview session.

She staples the last flyer to the tree and makes her way to her car. Her mother offered to help her out with the rent, but Jade (being Miss Independent) wanted to do this without her help. She's been told that having a roommate can be a good or bad thing, but that isn't going to stop her from trying to find one. She needs somebody who will help her with the rent. She's filled out applications for various jobs, but no one has called her back. At least if she has a roommate, half the rent will be covered.

She unlocks the doors to her car and sighs. If no one calls her about wanting to be her roommate, she can consider herself screwed. If someone does call her, she knows her callous demeanor will probably cause them to not want to room with her, so she told herself that when that time comes, to be nice to the people; even if that's the last thing that she wants to do.

Before she gets back to her apartment, she stops by one of her favorite restaurants, to pick up something to eat. Her money isn't going to be wasted on take-out all the time, so she's decided to learn how to cook some things so she'll have some money to save.

When she walks through her apartment door, she notices that her phone is beeping with a new message, seven to be exact. She places her food on the table and walks over to the phone to play the messages.

_"Message one. Saturday, 11:43am: Hey, sweetie. I'm just checking up on you. I know you said you would be out posting flyers, but I'm calling to let you know, again, that if you can't find a roommate I will help you with the rent. I know you're independent, but I just don't trust a stranger living with you, Jade. Give me a call. Love you."_

Jade rolls her eyes at the message her mother left her and deletes it. How many times does she have to tell her she doesn't want her help with the rent? She's an adult now, she can handle this all on her own. She knows not to just let anyone live with her, but her mother just can't seem to see that Jade isn't a little kid anymore. With a sigh, she plays the next message.

_"Message two. Saturday, 12:18pm: Hi, I'm calling about the roommate offer. I, like, really need a place to stay. I don't know exactly what you're looking for, but I'm totes fun! We could do each other's hair and make-up, wait, you are a girl, right? I, like, totally forgot―"_

She cuts off the message and deletes it, whether she meets the person or not, she knew that wasn't going to work out. She plays messages three through six, all of them from people calling about wanting to be her roommate. Without even meeting them, she can tell that it wouldn't work out. She considers deleting message seven without even listening to it, but decides that she'll at least give this person a chance.

_"Message seven. Saturday, 2:23pm: Hello, I saw the flyer you made about needing a roommate and, if you want, I would like to take you up on that offer. I help run this café here in LA, so money's not really an issue. I can cook, so you won't ever have to worry about that. I keep things clean, for the most part, but this is your apartment so, I'll try not to keep things messy. Well, I guess that's it. You have my number, so I hope you take this into consideration. Bye. Oh, my name's Kendall, by the way!"_

Jade listens to the message end before repeating it again. She never really considered living with a guy before, but she figures it can't hurt. He sounded sane and he does have a job. She plays the message one last time, trying to decide whether or not she should call him. With hesitation she picks up the phone.

"So, you'd like to become my roommate?"

* * *

The next morning, Jade woke up extra early to go meet Kendall at the café he worked at. Even though they talked briefly on the phone the previous day, she wanted to see what he was like in person.

She arrived at the café, noticing that it's empty inside. She assumed it's because it's not open yet, not Kendall standing her up…not that she would care or anything. She pulls on the door and finds it open.

"Kendall?" she calls out, looking around the seemingly empty café.

A tall blond enters from the back of the café and looks at her. "Jade?" he asks.

"Yeah, so, are we going to get this interview thing started or what?" Jade asks, taking a seat at one of the tables.

"You waste no time, do you?"

"It's early and I would rather be in bed right now."

"Sorry, this is the only time that would work for me."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Are we gonna start?"

"Sure, but first, do you want some coffee or something?"

"Sure, two sugars." she tells him.

Kendall turns around to go get Jade her coffee. "Coming right up!"

Jade feels her phone vibrate in her pocket, she takes it out and sees that her mother is calling. "What the hell?" she mumbles before answering. "What?"

"Jade, I just wanted to say that if this interview doesn't go well―"

"Mother, stop right there. I don't _need_ your help, I don't _want_ your help. You've raised me for eighteen years, I'm perfectly capable of living without your help."

"Jade, I just want what's best for you."

Jade sighs. "If you want me to be able to function in the real world, you'll let me do this and stop complaining about it."

"Fine, just…"

"Be careful. Yes, I know."

"Okay, then. I'll let you go. I love you."

Jade smiles a little. "Goodbye, Mother."

Kendall comes walking back in, two coffees in his hand, and takes a seat. "Your coffee."

"Thanks."

"So, where do we start?"

"You may think this question is silly, but after hearing the messages the other people left me, I feel that it's necessary to ask. You don't have any mental issues, do you?"

Kendall chuckles. "No, I'm perfectly sane."

"Good. Where do you currently live?"

"I still live at home with my mom and little sister."

"Okay, I posted flyers around town and around the college campus I'm going to. Where did you see the flyer?"

"Someone brought it in, but they forgot it. When I was cleaning the table, I read it and decided that it would be nice to move out and become an adult."

"What college are you going to?"

"AMDA."

"Really? Me, too." Jade takes a sip of her coffee.

"Awesome, all the better reason to pick me as your roommate." Kendall smirks.

"Not so fast, blondie. We're not done here."

Kendall sighs. "Of course not."

"How often do you work here?

"I work everyday, but once classes start, I'll probably be working about three to four days out of the week."

"Okay."

"Oh, and I know you mentioned on the phone that you didn't have a job."

Jade raises her eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Well, I can give you a job here."

"Really? Who exactly runs this place?"

"One of my mom's friends."

"And they would have no problem with this?"

"Nope, they would be okay with it."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer."

"Great, just tell me when you want to start."

"Back to the questions, how old are you?"  
"I'm eighteen, I'll be nineteen in November."

"Okay, are you in any way OCD or have any other issues?"

Kendall shakes his head. "Nope."

Jade nods her head, secretly relieved. "Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law?"

"What kind of person do you think I am?"

"It's a valid question." Jade shrugs.

"No, I'm a good person."

"It's the good ones you have to watch."

"Well, not me. I try to stay out of trouble." Kendall tells her.

"You said that you can be messy. I actually don't like someone who's extremely messy. So, on a scale of one to ten, how messy are you?"

"Probably a three. But, I'm usually messy when I'm stressed or I have too much on my plate." Kendall replies honestly.

"I guess I can deal with that. One last question, I would ask more, but it's early and I don't feel like it."

Kendall leans back and takes another sip of his coffee. "Ask away."

"You have no problem whatsoever rooming with me?"

"And by that you mean?"

"A girl. A somewhat bossy girl at that. People tell me I can be cruel and uncaring, but that's just me being me. If you have no problem with that," Jade takes a key out of her pocket. "Then here's your key."

"My little sister can be a little bossy, so I'm kinda used to it. I have no problem living with a girl, I've lived with two all my life. So, I would love to be your roommate." Kendall smiles as he takes the key.

"Alright then, I'll text you the address and you can move in whenever you want."

"Sounds great. I look forward to living with you, Jade."

"Yeah, whatever." Jade stands up. "I'll see you later, I guess."

"Yes, you will."

* * *

Around six o'clock there's a knock on Jade's door.

"What?" she yells.

"Don't you mean who is it?" Kendall asks through the door.

Jade gets up and walks to the door. "I gave you a key for a reason!" she yells before opening to see Kendall holding two boxes.

"My hands are kinda occupied." he states.

Jade rolls her eyes. "I can see that."

"Could you step aside, please? These boxes are kinda heavy."

Jade moves aside and allows him to walk through the door. "How many boxes did you bring? You don't have to move in in one day."

"I know, I just thought I would get some done." Kendall says, placing the boxes down and looking around. "This place is amazing."

"I won't argue with you on that. It is actually really nice."

"Is this a place for college students only?" Kendall asks.

"No, I would've moved into one of those, but then I would have to find a brand new place to live after I graduated."

"Ah, I see."

Jade starts walking down the hall. "Follow, I'll show you your room."

Kendall follows her down the hall and into a bedroom. "Wow!"

"Yeah, it even comes with your very own bathroom. Decorate it how you want or don't, I don't care either way."

"Awesome," Kendall says. "how is your room decorated?"

"Follow." Jade commands and walks across the hall to her room, black walls with deep burgundy curtains, candles burning all in the room, and butterfly decorations can be seen.

"I may not know you that well, but this seems very fitting."

"It is."

"Okay then, I'm gonna go grab the rest of the boxes I brought."

"Which is how many?"

"I have about six more."

"Oh, carry on." Jade fans him away and pushes past him as she makes her way back to the living room.

"And Jade?"

"What?"

"Thanks."

"Whatever." she tells him as he walks back out the door. Once he's gone, she smiles softly.

Ten minutes later, Kendall's done placing the boxes in his room, ready to start unpacking until Jade stops him.

"Normally I wouldn't care, but don't you think you should take a break?"

"I just want to get it all done. It's less work I'll have to do once I get everything moved in."

"What else do you have to move in? You brought most of your bedroom today."

Kendall rolls his eyes playfully. "Not much. If I had to give you something exact, I would say about four boxes."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, today I just brought clothes and a few other things. I'm keeping some things with my mom, just in case."

"You don't think you'll last here, do you?" Jade asks, a smirk playing on her lips.

"I think _you're_ the one who doesn't think I'll last here. I just rather be safe than sorry."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep. Let me tell you something, Jade; I like a challenge."

That actually gets a real smile out of Jade. "Cute."

"That's the first time I've seen you smile since meeting you this morning."

Jade shrugs. "Don't expect to see it often."

Kendall takes a seat on the couch beside her. "Are you not a happy person?"

"Don't you have some boxes to unpack?" Jade asks.

"Didn't you tell me to take a break?"

"I changed my mind, go unpack."

Kendall stands up. "I'll cooperate today, but don't think I didn't notice your attempt to change the subject."

"Whatever."

"Is that your favorite word or something?"

"Kind of."

Kendall shakes his head. "I have a lot to learn about you, Jade."

"Yes, you do." Jade agrees.

* * *

Jade leans against the doorframe of Kendall's room watching him hang up the billionth plaid shirt he owns. "You have no variety do you?"

Kendall jumps a little and turns around. "Shit, you scared me! How long have you been standing there?"

Jade shrugs and sits on the edge of the bed. "Long enough to know that you own a lot of plaid."

"I like plaid."

"Obviously."

Kendall hangs the last shirt up before closing the closet door. "So, what are your plans for the evening?"

"I have no plans. I'm gonna do what I always do."

"Which is?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing as in you're not gonna do anything or nothing as in you're not gonna tell me?"

"I'm not gonna do anything. I don't really like going out."

"You don't have to go out to have fun." Kendall tells her as he flops on the bed.

"Well, I don't exactly feel like having fun."

"You're pretty much a Debby Downer, aren't you?"

"No, I'm just too lazy to go out and do something right now."

Kendall sits up. "Then we'll stay inside and do something."

Jade quirks her eyebrow. "Such as?"

"I'll teach you how to cook." Kendall smiles.

"Next option."

"Come on, it'll be fun. What if one day I'm not here and you have no money to go and get something from a restaurant?"

"I'll call my mother, I'm sure she would love to baby me by bringing me something to eat."

"Jade." Kendall groans.

"Fine, teach me." she rolls her eyes.

"I promise, it'll be simple."

"Not all cooking is easy."

"No, but I'm about to teach you how to cook one of the simplest meals there is."

"Which is?"

"Spaghetti. You really can't do much damage unless you burn the sauce." Kendall tells her as he starts walking out the room.

"Which I'll probably do. Can't we do something more entertaining." Jade yells from her spot on the bed.

"Nope," Kendall comes walking back in and grabs her wrist. "come on."

Jade tugs her arm away. "Don't pull me."

"Fine, I won't touch you." he says with his hands raised.

* * *

The spaghetti took longer to cook than expected. Jade constantly kept complaining that they should've cooked something else (especially once she burned the first batch of sauce). Kendall reassured her it was a simple mistake and offered to make the new batch himself. She tried to get the meatballs perfect, but they kept crumbling which pissed her off even further. She burned her arm on the hot pot and not too long after that, she almost dropped the pasta. Once they were done, Jade wasn't even in the mood to eat.

"Come on, you went through all that chaos to not try your final product?" Kendall asks grabbing a plate for himself and Jade.

"I don't wanna try it. I'll just add spaghetti to the list of things I hate."

Kendall sits a plate full of spaghetti in front of her. "Try it."

"No."

"Please, for me?"

Jade scoffs. "You're not helping your case."

"You know you're hungry."

"I'll go out and get something."

"Jade, just try it."

"I don't wanna."

"Don't be a child."

"Don't call me a child."

Kendall sighs. "If you take one bite, I'll leave you alone."

"That's still treating me like a kid."

"Jade!"

Jade rolls her eyes. "If it will get you to shut up, I'll try it!" she picks up her fork and gets a small amount of spaghetti to eat, Kendall watching her the entire time. She sticks the fork in her mouth, and to her surprise, it actually tastes good. Of course, she wouldn't let Kendall know that.

"Well?"

"Nothing."

"Jade."

"I tried it, now I'm done."

"You liked it." he says smugly.

Jade shrugs. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. You'll never know." she says and gets up from the island.

"Jade!" Kendall calls after her.

"What?" she asks as she walks back in the kitchen.

Kendall picks up her plate and hands it to her. "You're not fooling anyone," he smirks. "enjoy your dinner."

Jade glares at him and snatches her plate away. "Whatever."

Kendall chuckles once she's gone and starts to eat his meal again. Once he's done, he begins to wash the messy dishes just as his phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey, honey." his mom says into the phone.

"Hey, Mom."

"So, what's the apartment like?"

Kendall turns off the faucet before responding. "It's amazing. One of the best apartments I've seen in this city."

"What's she like?"

"Jade is…complicated."

He hears his mom sigh. "Kendall, if this is going to be a problem―"

"It's not, though." Kendall says hurriedly. "Jade is just different, but she has a heart. At least, I think she has a heart."

"You know that if things get complicated, Katie and I would love for you to come back."

"I know, thanks." Kendall smiles.

"Are you staying there for the night or are you coming back?"

"I think I'll stay here for tonight, see how it goes."

"Okay."

"I'll be back sometime tomorrow afternoon, though. I need to get the rest of those boxes."

"Well, the door is always open and ready for you to walk through it."

"Nice to know."

Jade walks into the kitchen with her empty plate and glass. She prepares to start washing them until Kendall stops her.

"What?" she asks.

Kendall covers the mouthpiece of his phone. "I'll get it, I'm not quite done cleaning everything else anyway."

Jade looks at him in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"You're gonna clean _all_ this up?"

"Yep."

Jade nods her head slowly. "Suit yourself." she tells him as she walks back out.

Kendall takes his hand away. "Sorry, Mom. Jade walked in."

"It's fine, I won't keep you. I just wanted to see how things were so far."

"So far, so good. Jade might be a tough cookie to crack, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you, too." Kendall tells her as he hangs up and starts to wash the dishes again.

Not even a minute later, Jade comes walking back in and pushes him aside.

"What?" Kendall asks.

"I'm washing the dishes." she tells him.

Kendall smiles. "Aw, you do have a heart or at least a soft spot for me."

Jade rolls her eyes. "I can let you do this by yourself."

"No, I appreciate the help." he smiles.

"Good," she tells him and passes him a dry dishtowel. "You dry."

"Okay."

They clean the dishes in silence, Kendall smiling at Jade when she looks at him. Jade doesn't smile back, just simply frowns her face a little before going back to washing. Kendall figures that's as much of a smile he'll get from her for the night, so he doesn't say anything. He just continues to wash dishes with the girl who will be his roommate for the next however many months.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note:** Look at that, two stories in one day! I wasn't going to update this anymore until I was done with my other story, but it was killing me so I had to. I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but this story was inspired by "kendalizabeth" on Tumblr. Her manips of Kendall and Jade (Kendall and Liz) really made me want to write a story about them and that's what I did. I'm almost done with chapter three, but I don't know when that'll be published. I might even surprise myself and upload it next week. Until then, enjoy!

* * *

Kendall woke up the next morning and started to get ready for work. He showered and got dressed before making his way into the kitchen where he was met with Jade.

She was sitting at the island eating a bowl of cereal. Her hair was up, she had no make-up on, and she still had her pajamas on.

Kendall smiled at her appearance before saying, "Good morning."

Jade turned around and looked at him. "Hey,"

"I didn't wake you, did I? If I did, I didn't mean to. I was trying to be as quiet as possible."

"No, I told a friend I would hang out with her today. She'll be here in an hour and a half, so I decided to get up."

Kendall smirked. "You have friends?"

"Haha, you're _so_ funny."

"Sorry, it's just that you don't seem like a people person."

"I'm not, but she's been my neighbor since I was five, so she's the closest thing I have to a best friend."

Kendall nods as he takes things out of the refrigerator to prepare breakfast for himself. "I'm surprised you didn't ask her to be your roommate."

"I would kill that girl."

He laughs. "So honest."

"You'll get used to it and I mean what I said. She drives me insane. If I had to live with her, I would smother her with a pillow."

"Okay, let's change the subject. Do you want some actual breakfast? Something more than a bowl of cereal?"

"What makes you think I would eat what you made? I don't know if you can really cook or not."

"You liked the spaghetti." he smirks.

"I never said if I liked it or not."

"You ate it."

"I was hungry."

"Come on, Jade. You know that spaghetti was good."

Jade gets up and places her bowl in the sink. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Aw, did I make you wanna leave?"

"Yep." she replies as she walks out.

"You'll get used to it." he tells her and goes back to cooking.

* * *

Jade is sitting in the living room by herself, Kendall left just an hour ago, destracting herself by watching TV as she waits for her friend.

Just as she turns the television off, there's a knock at the door.

"It's open!" she yells.

"Hi," her friend, Cat, greets her. "How are you?"

"Fine." she replies.

Cat takes a seat next to her on the couch. "Did you find a roomie?"

"Yeah."

"What's her name?"

"It's a guy and his name is Kendall."

"He sounds cute. Is he cute?"

Jade rolls her eyes. "We have different tastes in guys."

"But is he cute?"

"I'm not answering that."

"Why?"

"Cat, what's with all the questions?"

"I just wanna know." Cat whines.

"I am not answering that question."

Cat sighs. "Fine, what do you wanna do today?"

"Before we do anything I wanna go to that café downtown."

"Why?"

"Because that coffee I had from there yesterday was good and I want some more."

"You usually only stick to one place for your coffee."

"I know, but it was good and Kendall works there, so you'll get to meet him."

"Yay!"

"You're paying, by the way."

"I paid last time!"

Jade shrugs and grabs her keys. "Now you're paying again."

"'Kay, 'kay." Cat responds.

"I strongly reccommend you get decaf." she tells her as they walk out the door.

"Why?"

"Because you do not need caffeine."

* * *

They drive to the café downtown and make their way inside.

"Damn, this line is huge!" Jade comments.

"Do you see him?" Cat asks, jumping up and down to see over the people.

"Cat," Jade takes out her keys. "Go sit at a table and play with these."

"'Kay, 'kay." she replies cheerily and runs off to a table.

"Idiot." Jade murmurs.

Jade waits somewhat patiently in the long line for ten minutes and finally arrives at the front where Kendall is arranging things in the cash register.

"Welcome to Café LA, how may I-" he looks up and stops talking when he sees Jade. "Oh, hey."

"Hey."

"I'm not getting kicked out already am I?"

"No."

Kendall smiles. "Good, what can I get you?"

"I'll have what I had yesterday and anything that's not coffee for my friend."

He chuckles. "Coming right up. Take a seat, I'll bring it to you."

Jade nods and goes over to where Cat is sitting. "Give me back my keys."

"'Kay." Cat hands them back to her.

"Why is my keychain cracked?"

"I bit it."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to know what it tasted like."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Being around you is like being around a child."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you act like a child."

"That's mean."

"Yeah, I don't care."

"So, is Kendall here?"

"He works here, where else would he be?"

"He could be using this place as a decoy."

"Cat, don't be even more stupid than you already are."

"Do you think he's cute?"

Jade sighs. "Didn't we discuss this back at my place?"

"No, I asked _is_ he cute; I didn't ask if _you_ thought he was cute."

Jade rolls her eyes at Cat being correct. "I'm still not answering that."

"I just wanna know."

"Decide for yourself, he's coming over right now."

Cat glances in the direction Jade's looking. "He is cute. He's really cute."

"Whatever."

Kendall walks over and places a cup in front of Jade. "Coffee for you."

"Thanks." Jade mumbles. "This is Cat." she tells him.

"Nice to meet you." he smiles and places a cup in front of Cat. "Here's your tea."

Cat smiles and bats her eyelashes. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Jade raises her eyebrows at Cat.

"Oh!" Cat exclaims and opens her purse. "How much?"

"It's on the house."

"Really?" Jade asks.

"Really."

"Cool."

Cat stares at Kendall for a few seconds before saying, "You never introduced yourself."

"Kendall." he smirks and holds his hand out.

Cat takes it and smiles again. "I like your name."

"Thanks, I like yours as well."

Jade frowns at the two of them and rolls her eyes. "Don't you have to get back to work?"

"I suppose I do. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, yeah."

"It was nice meeting you, Cat." he says and starts to walk away.

"You, too." she smiles.

"Let's go."

"We haven't been here that long." Cat complains.

"It's been long enough." Jade tells her. "Now, let's go."

"I thought we were going to drink our coffee and tea here."

"You thought wrong. They're in to-go cups anyway."

"I wanna stay."

"Caterina Valentine, get your ass out the seat and come on."

"Fine," Cat grabs her purse and cup. "You're so bossy." she mumbles.

"What?" Jade snaps.

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought."

* * *

"Finally," Kendall's friend and co-worker, Camille, says. "I thought we'd never get a break!"

"I know, everyone wants to come here today."

"Got that right. Where do you wanna go for lunch today?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I feel like we've had lunch at every place possible."

"That's because we eat from the same places all the time." Camille states.

"Okay," Kendall sighs. "I made some spaghetti last night, with Jade's help, we could go to the apartment and have that for lunch.

"Kendall Knight's famous spaghetti? I'm down for that."

"Great, let's go."

They drive to the apartment, Kendall telling Camille what he has learned and knows about Jade.

"And you're choosing to live with someone like that?"

"Jade may seem a little mean, but I have a feeling that deep down inside she's actually a sweet person." he tells her as he pulls into the parking lot.

"Just know that if you ever need a place to stay, my door's always open."

Kendall smiles. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Come on, let's go see if she's home."

"And eat spaghetti." Camille reminds him.

He nods. "And eat spaghetti."

They take the elevator up to the apartment and stop in front of the door.

"She won't mind me being here, will she?"

"She shouldn't."

"I just don't wanna get you kicked out the day after you moved in."

"It'll be fine." he reassures her and digs around in his pocket. "Damn,"

"What?"

"I forgot my key in my room. I knew I should've put it on the ring with my car key."

"Knock, maybe she's home."

"Hopefully." he sighs and knocks on the door.

The door opens slowly before Cat peeps through the crack and opens it all the way.

"Hi," she greets.

"Hey, Cat. This is my friend Camille." he introduces them as he walks in, Camille following behind.

"Nice to meet you." Cat smiles.

Camille nods. "You, too."

"Jade home?"

"In her room."

"Thanks. Spaghetti's in the refrigerator, Camille."

"Okay."

"Warm some up for me." he tells her before he makes his way down the hall.

"No problem."

He stops in front of Jade's door and knocks lightly.

"What?" he hears Jade yell.

He opens the door a little and looks around. "Jade?"

Jade comes walking out of her closet in nothing but her bra and jeans. "What?" she asks again.

Kendall immediately averts his eyes. "I was just checking, you don't mind that I invited someone over?"

"Do what you want."

"Thanks." he replies and starts to walk out.

"Bring me that shirt on my desk!" she yells from her place back in the closet.

"Which one?"

"The red one."

He picks it up and walks into her closet, still not looking at her. "Here you go."

"Thanks." she smirks. "Is this making you uncomfortable?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"I'm leaving."

"That's fine. Just so you know, I didn't need the shirt.

"You're cruel."

She gasps sarcastically. "Look who's catching on."

"I'll be in the kitchen."

"Yeah, yeah."

For the next half hour, Kendall eats his lunch with Camille and Cat. Kendall and Camille getting to know Cat and vice versa.

After being in her room the entire time, Jade finally makes an appearance and goes to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

"Jade, this is my friend Camille."

Jade glances up. "Hey," she says simply before walking out.

"Jade's not the friendliest person." Cat tells her.

"Noticed."

"Come on, let's get back to work before we're late."

"Okay, it was nice talking with you, Cat."

"Same." Cat replies with a smile.

Kendall and Camille start making their out the kitchen and into the living room to get back to work when Jade walks out.

"Blondie,"

Kendall turns around. "Yeah?"

"Here," she tosses him his key. "Try not to make this a habit."

"Thanks." he smiles softly and walks out the door.

* * *

Many hours later Jade finally sends Cat home after she begins to feel even more annoyed by her presence than usual.

She does a little bit of cleaning around the apartment before deciding to take a nap. Once she has the blanket over her on the couch she closes her eyes, fully prepared to enjoy the peace and quiet, until she hears a phone ringing.

Getting off the couch, she walks into the kitchen where she sees Kendall's phone ringing with a call from his mom.

"First his key and now his phone." she mumbles before answering. "Hello?"

"Hi, you must be Jade."

"That I am. I'm sorry, but Kendall's at work and he forgot his phone." she responds nicely.

"Not surprising, he forgets a lot of things."

"Can't argue with you on that."

"I won't keep you, but just let him know that I'm going out of town and if he needs anything his key is under the doormat."

"I'm guessing he forgot to bring that key with him, right?"

"Right."

"I'll be sure to give him the message, Mrs. Knight."

"Thank you."

"No problem, goodbye."

"Goodbye, Jade. I hope to meet you when I get back."

Jade rolls her eyes. "I'll be looking forward to it."

She hangs up and returns to the living room to try and start her nap all over again when her own phone rings.

"Why?" she groans before looking down and answering the call from 'unknown'. "Who are you and why do you have my number?"

"It's me." Kendall replies.

"What?"

"I forgot my phone."

Jade scoffs. "Obviously."

"I was just going to tell you that if anyone calls, don't answer."

"Too late, your mom called and she said that she's going out of town and left your key under the doormat."

"Okay, but if anyone else calls just ignore it."

"Fine by me, I don't wanna play secretary for you."

"See you later."

"Whatever." she replies before hanging up.

She sits on the couch for five minutes waiting to see if anyone else calls or comes to the door before she gets into a comfortable position and takes a well-deserved nap.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note: **Another update on another story. I'm really loving this story so much. I hope you all are as well. This didn't take long, but I was procrastinating with it. Chapter four should be up within the next few weeks or earlier, so be on the lookout for that. Once I again I didn't proofread, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Enjoy.

* * *

Walking through the door after a long day of work, Kendall smiles at Jade on the couch asleep.

"Aw," he says as he makes his way down the hall.

He changes his clothes and gets some writing done before deciding to go to his mom's and get his guitar along with some other things.

Walking back into the living room, he spots Jade waking up.

"Hey,"

"Hey," she mumbles. "When did you get back?"

He shrugs. "About forty-five minutes ago."

"Oh,"

"Care to join me?"

"Depends, where are you going?"

"To my mom's, I have to get the rest of my boxes and some other things."

"Sure, I have nothing better to do."

Kendall rolls his eyes. "Then let's get going."

* * *

The car ride is silent, Jade not wanting or willing to hold a conversation. The silence begins to bother Kendall, so he decides to turn on the radio to a rock station.

"You like rock music?" Jade asks.

"Yeah, is that surprising?"

"Kinda, I expected you to be more of a country or pop kind of person."

Kendall shrugs. "I like a little bit of everything."

Jade's quiet after that, not speaking for the remainder of the ride.

"Try not to break anything while you're here." he tells her as they make their way to the door.

"No promises." Jade replies, leaning against the house as she waits for Kendall to open the door.

Kendall huffs as he pushes open the door. "Welcome to Casa de la Knight."

Jade steps inside and is immediately bombarded with photos of Kendall and Katie on the walls.

"Is your mom afraid she's gonna forget what you and your sister look like or something?"

Kendall shrugs. "She likes to have photos of us up; it's her way of keeping us close by. It's sweet."

"It's creepy."

"Does your mom have photos of you up on her walls."

"Yes, but not a billion of them. She probably has photos of you in the bathroom."

"Actually..." he trails off.

Jade's eyes widen. "Oh my gosh, she does."

"Baby pictures and there are only two; one of me and one of Katie."

"I have to see this."

Kendall begins to walk down the hall. "Well, come on." he stops once he gets in front of the door and flips on the light.

Jade pushes past him and looks at the wall. "Aw," she coos and smiles.

"Aw? That wasn't exactly the reaction I was expecting."

Jade just simply shrugs. "I like kids."

"That's a shocker."

"Aren't you embarrassed when people come over and use the bathroom and see a naked photo of you on the wall?"

"I used to be, I've gotten used to it." he says and turns around, ready to show Jade his room.

Jade glances at the photo before looking back at Kendall. "Your ass isn't that fat anymore."

"Jade!" he exclaims and turns around, cheeks reddening.

"I was just making an observation. It's more flat now."

"Can you not talk about my ass?"

"Don't be embarrassed."

"Too bad, I am." he tells her and pulls her out the bathroom.

She smiles wickedly, pleased with the fact that she embarrassed him. "What room are you showing me next?"

"Mine." he replies and walks across the hall.

Jade steps into the room and looks around. There are boxes sitting in one of the corners of the room, hats hung on hooks, there are more photos, but what really catches her eye is the guitar.

"You play?"

"Yeah, do you?"

"Not the guitar, I play the piano."

"That's cool, too."

"Are you any good?"

"I think I am, but I guess I don't really know."

"Have you not played for your friends or family?"

"Yeah, but of course they're gonna tell me I'm good."

"Then play for me."

"For you?"

Jade sits down on his bed before lying down. "Yeah, I'm not your friend and I'm sure as hell not apart of your family. I'll tell you if you're good or not."

"Okay, anything you want to hear?"

"Not a song I might know. If you suck, I don't want you ruining a perfectly good song."

Kendall hesitates for a moment before starting to play. Jade lies back on the bed and tries to make out what he's playing. When she doesn't recognize, she decides to just close her eyes and simply enjoy the song. The tune is very relaxing and she can just faintly hear Kendall sing along. She gets so wrapped up into it, she doesn't even realize he's done playing until he speaks.

"What do you think?"

She sits up looks at him. "Not bad."

"Thanks."

She nods and focuses her gaze on a photo behind him. "Girlfriend?"

"Excuse me?"

"Is that your girlfriend in that photo behind you?"

"Oh, yeah. Her name's Jo."

"Dude, don't sound so happy about it." Jade says sarcastically.

"What?"

"You sound like you're not even thrilled that you have a girlfriend."

"Don't get me wrong, Jo's great, we've just been having some issues lately."

"Is she gonna be over a lot? I hope not, I rather you keep your drama away from me."

"She doesn't live here."

"She doesn't?"

"No, she's going to school in New York, so that's where she moved."

"Wow, long distance."

"It's just another reason of why we're always arguing."

"Did you not want her to leave?"

"No, she wanted me to go to school there with her. I applied and I got accepted, but I told her I didn't."

"Lying to your girlfriend, that doesn't seem like you."

"I try not to, but I really didn't want to go to New York."

"Why didn't you just tell her that?"

"That would've made things worse."

"Oh, wait. That's the reason why you didn't want me to answer your phone calls earlier."

Kendall nods and sits next to her. "Yeah, she can be extremely jealous sometimes. I didn't want you to answer and have her wonder why some random girl is answering my phone."

"I may have only known you for a day, but she doesn't seem like the type of girl you would date."

"She really is a nice girl, I know what I'm saying is just making her seem like..."

"A bitch." Jade finishes.

"I wasn't going to say that."

"No, but you were thinking about it."

"Whatever, the point is I do care about my girlfriend."

"If you say so."

Kendall rolls his eyes and stands up. "Come on, I'll show you the rest of the house."

They spend the next ten minutes walking around the house and the outside. Once Kendall has shown Jade the entire Knight household, they go back inside to take a seat on the couch.

"Now what do we do?"

"I still have a few more boxes to pack. Once I get that done, we're going to the store."

"Why?"

"So I can teach you how to make tonight's meal."

"No way."

"Jade, it'll be easy."

"You said that last night and I burned myself."

"That doesn't mean you give up cooking forever."

"I didn't want to cook in the first place."

"What we're making tonight will be really simple." he assures her.

"What is it?"

"Homemade pizza."

"You really get joy out of cooking, don't you?"

"Yeah, so what do you say?"

"Fine, but if I burn myself or slice my finger off or something, I'm never cooking again."

"That's reasonable."

* * *

After packing up some more items, Jade helping every now and then, Kendall places the last of the boxes in the truck of his car before getting in.

"What kind of pizza do you want?" he asks her as he puts the car in reverse.

"Anything but plain cheese."

"Okay, we'll settle for pepperoni."

"Fine."

"By the way, I try to eat as many organic things as I can, so I'm going to buy organic sauce."

"Gross, no."

"Have you ever even tried it?"

Jade scoffs. "No and I don't plan on it."

"I'm getting it."

"Fine, then I won't eat."

"Jade," Kendall groans.

"I don't wanna eat some organic crap."

"Just try it."

Jade rolls her eyes and turns on the radio in her attempt to block Kendall out. Kendall lets it be, choosing to bring it back up once they get to the store.

They arrive and grab a basket once tgey walk through the door and make their way to the aisle where the sauce is located.

Jade skims through the different kinds before placing one in the basket. "There, one jar of non-organic marinara. Let's keep it moving."

"Not so fast," Kendall says and grabs her by the arm. "Why can't you just try it."

"Because I said so and let me go!"

"It tastes practically the same."

"I let you talk me into cooking last night, I even let you talk me into eating the spaghetti, but I will not let you think you can force me to do anything else."

"It's sauce! I'm not asking you to jump off a cliff."

"If you keep talking about this damn sauce, I'm going to kick you out."

"You will not."

Jade raises her eyebrows. "Really? What makes you think I won't?"

Kendall smirks. "Because whether you like it or not, you need me. You need someone who will put up with your crap and stand their ground when you say no. You need someone who will still stick around no matter how much you piss them off. Even if you found another roommate, you wouldn't be able to deal with them; you'll scare them off and find another. Let me tell you this, Jade, I'm not scared of you and I'm not leaving. No matter how many times you say it, I'm not going anywhere."

Jade stares at him for a while before looking back at the shelves and grabbing a jar labeled organic and placing it in the baskset. "Fine, have your damn organic sauce." she says before walking out the aisle.

Kendall lets out the breath he was holding. "That went better than expected." he says to himself.

"Come on!" he hears Jade yell.

"I'm coming!" he yells back.

* * *

They shop for a little while longer, Jade not arguing when Kendall picks out something that she doesn't want. It surprises Kendall, but he doesn't make a comment about it; he simply smiles to himself before proceeding to where they have to go next.

They get in the car and the ride is like it was on their way to the Knight's house. Jade stares out the window until she feels her phone vibrate in her hand and she smiles a little. Once she reads the message, her smile immediately turns into a frown and she turns off her phone and goes back to looking out the window.

Kendall notices the sad expression on Jade's face, but he can't seem to bring himself to ask what's wrong. He ultimately chooses to not ask and remain quiet for the rest of the ride.

When they get back to the apartment, Jade carries the groceries inside while Kendall places the rest of the boxes and his guitar in his room.

After everything is settled, he tells Jade that he's about to start making the pizza. She follows him in the kitchen and follows the orders he gives her, not arguing once. Once it's in the oven, Jade takes a seat on the couch and Kendall goes into his room to finish writing a song he's been working on.

Twenty minutes later, he places his guitar down so he can go check on the pizza. When he walks into the living room, he's surprised to see Jade on the couch crying.

"Jade?" he asks gently. "Are you okay?"

She sniffs and turns around a little. "I think the pizza's done."

Kendall nods and walks into the kitchen to take the pizza out of the oven. When he walks back into the living room, Jade is crying harder than she was before.

He stands at the door separating the kitchen from the living room before slowly walking over to the couch and taking a seat next to Jade. He hesitantly places his arm around her and pulls her a little closer. Jade scoots closer before crying hysterically into Kendall's shirt.

They remain that way for almost half an hour. Jade crying into Kendall's shirt as he soothingly rubs her back. She sits up after a while and wipes the remaining tears off her cheeks.

"I'm going to go fix myself back up." she tells him, her voice sounding completely wrecked.

He nods his head. "Okay."

She gets up off the couch and begins to walk down the hall. She stops before she gets any further and turns around. "Thanks," she tells him.

Kendall smiles softly. "Anytime."

* * *

Kendall's in the kitchen eating when Jade comes walking in looking as if that half hour never happened. She grabs a plate and a slice of pizza before taking a seat next to him.

He's completely surprised by her actions to say the least and can't keep himself from asking, "Are you okay?"

Jade makes a face. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Just asking."

They eat the rest of the meal in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note:** A long time coming, but here it is. I've been so busy with writing chapter 12 for You're the Reason, that I forgot about this. I've literally written three different versions of chapter 12 and I still don't like any of them. It'll be a while before I get that posted, but here's something to make up for that. I know that the story has been going by pretty slow, but once they start school I promise things will begin to pick up. I have amazing things planned for this story. I also want to say I appreciate all the reviews on both stories along with the follows and favorites. It makes me love writing so much more. Leave a comment, I love knowing what you guys like and what you would like to see. It makes it more fun. Enjoy!

* * *

The next morning, Jade wakes up as early as possible to avoid Kendall and go to her mother's house. She uses the half an hour drive to think about what happened the previous night to prepare herself for any questions that Kendall might, and will, have for her later.

She arrives at her mom's house and makes her way inside. "Mother," she yells. "I'm here!"

"Be right there." Ms. West responds.

Jade makes her way to the living room and takes a seat on the couch while she waits for her mother to appear.

"Jade," her mom says. "What brings you here?"

"Am I not wanted here?"

"Of course you are, you just called me so late last night to tell me you were coming over, I figured something was wrong." Ms. West says as she takes a seat next to Jade.

"Everything's great."

"Jade, be honest."

"I cried in front of my roommate who I've only known for three days."

Her mom chuckles a bit. "Is that bad?"

"I'm supposed to be able to hold my ground, not cry my eyes out in his shirt."

"Everyone cries, Jade. It's really not that bad."

"I can't have him thinking I'm weak."

"You crying makes you weak?"

Jade sighs. "Mother, you don't understand."

"What were you crying about in the first place?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Of course not. Let's go eat some breakfast and you can tell me some more about this roommate."

"Okay," Jade responds and follows her mom into the kitchen.

* * *

Kendall sits up in his bed and stretches. He glances down for a second to notice he's still wearing his mascara-stained shirt from the previous night; having went straight to bed after a writing session, he never got around to changing it.

He takes a quick shower and gets ready for the day before making his way across the hall to Jade's room. He knocks softly and waits for her to open the door, when she doesn't, he knocks a little harder before opening the door a little.

"Jade?" he calls out as he looks around. "Are you in here?" he doesn't see her and sighs. Of course she would leave before Kendall could bring up what happened the night before.

Sighing once again, he goes into the kitchen to make something for breakfast before he has to get to work. Once he has eaten breakfast, he goes to his room to grab his keys and then doubles back to grab his phone and makes his way out the door.

He spends the entire drive thinking about Jade's behavior the previous night. For a minute, he thinks what he said to her in the store was a little too harsh until he remembers the way her face fell apart after reading a text message from someone. In a way, it makes him kind of mad that someone made Jade so upset she cried for nearly an hour. Sure, they've only known each other for a few days, but he doesn't like to see other people sad.

He pulls into the parking lot and walks inside to see Camille getting things ready for the day.

"Hey," he greets.

"Hey."

"You're here early this morning."

"Well, Jennifer quit so I came in to get things set up since she won't be doing that."

"Why did she quit?"

"She said working here was starting to ruin her reputation." she tells him and rolls her eyes.

Kendall groans. "Just wonderful."

"We need to hire someone else."

"I told Jade that she could work here, I'll tell her a spot is open."

"Good. Speaking of crazy girls, have you talked to Jo?"

"Jo's not crazy and I talked to her last night."

"How are things in New York going?"

"Great, she told me she's coming to visit and should be arriving tomorrow. I guess she thought last minute would be the best time to tell me."

"What about Jade?

Kendall raises an eyebrow. "What about her?"

"Are you forgetting that Jo will freak out when you tell her that you're living with some girl that she doesn't know?"

"No. I actually think that once she gets to meet Jade, there won't be anything to be jealous about."

Camille chuckles. "Are you implying that Jade's ugly?"

"No! I don't think Jade's ugly, I was talking about her personality."

"Which is ugly."

"She has a soft side." Kendall says softly.

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me, I do."

"Whatever, I just think you should stay at your mom's until Jo leaves."

"I would, but I don't want to."

"You do realize that while you're working, she'll be left at the apartment all alone with Jade?"

Kendall thinks about it. "Yeah, that might not be good. I guess Jo could hang around here until I get off work."

"But then she's taking up an empty table."

Kendall sighs. "Camille, work with with me here!"

"I'm just trying to help. You're not actually thinking things through, Kendall."

"I'll just let Jo stay at the apartment. You saw how Jade was when she met you, with any luck, she'll be the same way with Jo."

"Hopefully. Let's just focus on getting everything ready before we open up."

"Okay."

* * *

Jade, much to her surprise, actually enjoys the time that she's spending at her mother's. They talk about various things while they eat breakfast and when they finish, she begins to ask about Kendall.

"There's nothing to really say about him." Jade tells her.

"Of course there is. Tell me what you know about him."

Jade groans. "He's eighteen, his birthday is in November, he has a little sister, he wo-"

"What's her name?"

"Mother, that's not important."

Her mom shrugs. "Maybe not to you, but I want to know."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Her name's Katie."

"Okay, you can continue."

"He works at that café downtown called Café LA, he has a girlfriend that lives in New York, apparently he has a thing for organics," she says with an eyeroll. "He plays the guitar and writes songs and that's basically all I know."

"He sounds interesting."

"To you. To me he's just annoying."

"You don't mean that. Now, what's his girlfriend's name and why does she live in New York?"

"Jo and she lives there because that's where she goes to school."

Ms. West sighs. "That's a let down."

"What is?"

"He has a girlfriend."

Jade makes a face. "Mother, I know he's of legal age, but I don't think it'd be okay for you to date him."

"I wasn't saying it was a let down for me, I was saying it was one for you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, now you can't date him."

Jade scoffs. "I wouldn't want to date him even if he was single."

"Why not? You haven't had a boyfriend since-"

"Do not bring that up."

"I was just saying. He sounds nice enough."

"Too bad. He has a girlfriend and I don't like him."

"If you don't like him, why did you pick him as your roommate?"

"I mean I don't have a crush on him."

"That could change, Jade." she smiles. "You can wake up one morning and be head over heels in love with him."

"Doubt it." she replies. "I'm leaving."

Ms. West sighs. "Okay, I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Bye!" Jade yells as she walks out the kitchen.

* * *

The rest of the day goes by slow for the both of them. Kendall goes through another hectic work day and Jade spends most of her day lounging around the apartment.

It's almost five o'clock when Kendall gets back and when he walks through the door, he's met with Jade in a bikini top, shorts, a towel, and her phone in hand.

"Where are you going?"

"Pool." she replies and walks past him.

"Jade, wait!" he yells after her. "I need to talk to you."

Jade stops and turns around. "Blondie, I do not want-"

"It's not about last night." he says hurriedly.

"Oh. What is it then?"

"A spot was made available at work and I wanted to know if you would like it; you said you'd think about it, but I wanted to know before we put up a sign."

Jade shrugs. "Sure, I guess."

"Cool, you can start Monday."

Jade nods and begins to walk back towards the direction of the elevators. Kendall sighs and walks back into the apartment and flops down on the couch. He lies there for a few minutes before he realizes that he didn't tell Jade about Jo coming to visit. He makes his way out the door, to the elevators, and down to the pool.

Walking out, Jade is the only one out there at the moment. She has her back against the side of the pool, her arms stretched out to the sides, a content smile playing on her lips. Kendall walks over to where she is and crouches down.

"Jade."

Jade gasps as she turns around. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"Sorry, it wasn't intentional."

She rolls her eyes. "What do you want? I'm trying to relax."

"I forgot to mention that Jo's coming to visit."

"And why am I supposed to care?"

"Because she's going to be staying here."

Jade lets out a brief, dry chuckle. "No, she's not."

"Why not?"

"Because I told you to keep your drama away from me."

"There'll be no drama. I can assure you that."

"Why can't you stay at your mom's until she leaves?"

Kendall rolls his eyes at Jade repeating what Camille said earlier. "Because I don't want to. This is my place now, too. I was nice enough to ask you, so you should at least be nice enough to agree."

"News flash, Knight, I'm not that nice."

"I realize that." Kendall replies standing up. "You can have the place to yourself for the weekend, I'll be at my mom's." he says hotly, turning around and walking away.

Jade groans and goes back to the position she was in before Kendall came out. She continues to just sit there until she starts to feel her skin become wrinkly. She quickly dries herself off and walks back up to the apartment. Kendall's sitting on the couch watching TV when she walks back in and doesn't look in her direction. Jade simply shrugs and goes to take a shower to get the chlorine smell off of her.

Walking back into her room after her shower, she changes clothes and then goes into the kitchen to grab something to eat. Kendall walks in not a minute later and stands at the door watching her.

"What?" she asks.

"I thought about it."

"Thought about what?"

"Jo's staying here."

Jade rolls her eyes and slams the refrigerator door. "No, she's not."

"Yeah, she is. I live here, too. You can't tell me I can't invite certain people over. I notified you, hell, I even gave you a job. I was nice enough to do that and no matter what you say, she's staying here."

"You're really pushing my buttons. Three days here and you're already so damn annoying."

"What are you gonna do, Jade? Kick me out? If you're gonna do that, maybe I should just move out. I could always find another place and another roommate." Kendall tells her. Truthfully, he doesn't want to move out. He's just doing whatever he can to get through to Jade and make her see his side of things.

Jade just rolls her eyes again and walks past him. "Move out, then."

Kendall practically chokes on his spit. "Excuse me?"

"Move out. I can have Cat move in or even ask my mother for help, I don't want to, but if I absolutely have to, I will."

"I'm sorry, are you really telling me to move out because I want my girlfriend to stay here for _one_ weekend?"

"Yep."

Kendall groans. "Why are you being so difficult. Reason with me."

"I've been doing that since you got here and I'm sick of reasoning with you!"

"She's staying!"

"Then you're leaving!"

"No, I'm not! I'm not leaving just because you don't want Jo here."

"I'm through with this. If she stays here, you're moving out." Jade tells him and walks back to her bedroom.

"Fuck!" Kendall yells before making his way to his own room, the door slamming behind him.

* * *

Three hours later and they're both still in their rooms, not talking to each other. Kendall considers going to go apologize for his behavior, but decides against it; he has nothing to truly be sorry for.

Another hour goes by and there's a knock on his door.

"What?" he mumbles.

Jade opens it and leans against the door frame. "Shouldn't you be packing?"

Kendall rolls his eyes. "Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't think I should leave."

"You're right."

"What?" he asks, completely surprised by her response.

"She can stay, but if she says or does one thing to piss me off, she has to go."

Kendall smiles. "Deal. I can promise you that she won't."

"Whatever." she replies and starts to close the door.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"What made you change your mind?"

"I thought about it. You did give me a job and you are helping out with the rent, I guess I could do you a favor. It just means that you owe me." she fails to mention that after a two hour conversation with her mother, she was willing to do anything to get her to stop talking.

Kendall chuckles. "Okay, I owe you. Thanks."

"Whatever."

"Oh, and Jade?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Jade shrugs. "It's fine," she pauses. "_This_ time. Next time, however, you'll do what I say."

Kendall rolls his eyes but says, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Jade replies as she closes the door back.

"Whatever." Kendall says to himself with a smile after she leaves.

* * *

Kendall gets as much sleep as he can before he has to leave to pick Jo up from the airport at four in the morning. The drive there isn't that long and he spends his time weighing the pros and cons of Jo staying at the apartment. He figures since Jade doesn't like people it'll be fine. Plus, he went through so much shit to get Jade to agree, it would be crazy if he changed his mind.

He parks his car in the parking lot and walks towards the airport.

"Kendall!" he hears someone call. He turns to his right to see Jo running towards him, her suitcase dragging behind.

He smiles and picks her up. "Well, hello."

"Hi,"

"You could've waited inside, you know."

"I could've, but I was too eager to see you."

"Of course you were." he says and kisses her as he places her back on the ground.

"Can we go? I'm cold."

Kendall laughs. "Yeah, let's get going." he grabs her suitcase and leads her back to the car.

"Tell me about the apartment. You didn't say much about it on the phone last night." Jo says once they're settled in the car.

"It's nice, you'll like it."

"How are you going to manage the rent all by yourself?"

Kendall sighs. "I'm not."

"You're not what?"

"I'm not paying all the rent by myself."

"Is your mom helping you?"

"No," he responds as he pulls out the parking lot.

"Kendall, you're being vague."

"I have a roommate."

"Camille?"

Kendall knows Jo would be more comfortable if he said Camille was his roommate, but there's no point in lying since she's going to meet Jade herself. "No, her name's Jade."

"Oh,"

"Yeah."

"How do you know her?"

"I don't. She posted flyers looking for a roommate, I called her, we met up, and now she's my roommate."

"Is she nice?"

Kendall shrugs. "It's up for debate."

"What do you mean?"

"I think the level of Jade's niceness depends on how well she knows you and who you are in her life."

"Interesting." Jo says as the car falls quiet.

Ten minutes later they're pulling into the apartment parking lot and heading to the apartment. Kendall opens the door, trying to be as quiet as possible, and let's Jo walk in before walking in himself and closing the door.

"Nice place." Jo says whispers.

"Yeah. Come on, let's go to my room." Kendall whispers back.

He escorts Jo to his room and quietly closes the door behind them.

"Wow, you have this whole room to yourself? It's huge."

"Yeah. Both are like that."

"So you've been in her room?" Jo sighs as she sits on the edge of Kendall's bed.

"Briefly, yes. It's nothing to worry about."

"How do I know that, Kendall?"

"Trust me, when you meet Jade in the morning all your doubts will be gone."

"I hope your right."

"I am. Let's go to bed before I have to get up in a few hours."

Jo yawns. "Okay,"

Kendall turns the lamp off and pulls the sheets back. They climb under them and Kendall pulls Jo close to him.

"I love you." Jo whispers.

"Love you, too." he responds as sleep takes over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note: **Here's chapter five. Currently working on chapter six. Not much to say here, but the story will begin to progress a little more after this. I should have them actually attending college in chapter seven or eight. Enjoy!

* * *

Jade wakes up later that morning with a plan in her mind. Knowing that Jo has a little jealousy issue, she decides to be on her best behavior and be nothing but sweet and polite. She figures if Jo thinks she's really sweet, it'll drive her insane leaving Kendall all alone with her. Also, she just wants to make Kendall squirm.

She showers and goes to her closet desperate to find something girly enough. She ends up finding a yellow tank top and settles for putting on a pair of shorts with it. She does her hair and makeup as girly as possible (light pink lipstick, mascara, eyeshadow) and makes her way into the kitchen.

She's eating a bowl of cereal when Jo comes walking into the kitchen.

"Um. Hi." she greets.

"Hello, you must be Jo." she says sweetly.

"Yeah, I am. I can only guess that you're Jade."

"That I am. It's so nice to meet you." Jade smiles as she holds out a hand for Jo to shake.

"Um. Yeah. It's nice to meet you, too." she responds as she releases Jade's hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're nothing like the image Kendall put in my mind."

Jade smirks. "I'm sure."

Kendall comes walking into the kitchen running his fingers through his hair as he turns his head and looks at Jade. "Jade?"

"Morning,"

"Yeah, morning. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Jade stands and follows Kendall into the living room. "What is it?"

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Like what?"

"All girly and shit. Since I met you, you wore nothing but black clothing. What is all this?"

Jade smiles. "Am I not allowed to wear other clothes?"

"Why did you pick today?"

She shrugs. "I'm in a good mood."

"Why are you being nice?"

"I'm always nice."

"You and I both know that's bullshit. Seriously, Jade, why are you dressed and acting like this?"

Jade rolls her eyes. "I'm going to go finish my breakfast."

When they walk back into the kitchen, Jo asks, "Is everything alright?"

Kendall nods. "Everything's perfect."

"Good. What's for breakfast?" Jo asks with a smile.

"Whatever you want."

Jade smiles and looks over at them. "Isn't he the best boyfriend?"

Jo's smile falters. "Yeah. The best."

"And so talented. He played me a song on the guitar the day before, it was absolutely amazing."

Jo looks at Kendall. "You played her a song? How nice of you." she says with fake happiness.

Kendall shoots Jade a look before moving over to the refrigerator. "She wanted to know if I was a good guitar player and asked me to play the guitar for her. It was nothing."

"Oh,"

"Still, he's amazing. He cooks, he can play guitar, he's super sweet, just the full package."

"Yeah," Jo sighs. "That's my Kendall."

"So lucky."

"Yeah, I am."

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. If you need me, I'll be in my room." she say to them as she walks out.

"I thought you said I had nothing to worry about!"

"You don't," he tells her as he pours some juice in a glass and takes a sip.

"You made her sound mean, she's nice. And she's pretty. On top of all that she's really, really, busty."

Kendall chokes a little. "What?"

"Don't act like you haven't noticed."

"Jo, I pay no attention to that."

"Kendall, you're a guy, it's what you do. Why didn't you describe her like this instead of what you told me?"

"Because this is not really Jade."

"Then who is it? Does she have a twin sister you don't know about?"

"No, she's just…being nice."

"Well, I don't feel comfortable around her. Especially with her dressed like that. Is that how she always dresses?"

"No! I don't even know why she's dressed like that."

Jo sighs. "Whatever."

"Don't say that, you sound like her."

"Could you at least ask her to put on a sweatshirt or something?"

"Sure, I'll be back."

Kendall walks out the kitchen and to Jade's room. He knocks on the door and waits for Jade to respond.

"Come in!"

"Hey,"

"Hello."

"Stop being nice. Where's the vicious girl I moved in with?"

"Taking a break."

"You're making Jo uncomfortable."

"Am I?" she asks, feigning dumb. "I had no idea."

"Jade, all I ask is for you to put on a sweatshirt, or a jacket, or a longer shirt."

"Why?"

"Because apparently your boobs are too big and that weirds her out that you wear a shirt like that." he says, completely uncomfortable.

"Do you think that?"

"Think what?"

"That my boobs are big."

"Jade, I'm not answering that. Please, put on another shirt."

"I'm just having a little fun with you. Calm down, blondie."

"Are you gonna change?"

"I guess. This look and this personality aren't my thing."

Kendall nods. "Good. I actually prefer the real you; she's more interesting."

Jade rolls her eyes, but Kendall can see the smile she's fighting off. "Whatever."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm about to get ready to go in a bit. Try not to kill my girlfriend."

"She's the one who hates me."

"Yeah, but between you and me, I think you could take her."

"Do you now?"

"Yeah. Don't tell her that, though." he adds quickly.

Jade chuckles. "We'll see."

Kendall smiles. "Hey, I made you laugh. I think that's a job well done."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Get out before your girlfriend thinks you're doing something you shouldn't be."

"You're probably right. I take it that you won't come out before I leave so I'll see you later."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't you mean whatever?"

She smirks. "I knew you were expecting me to say that, so I didn't."

Kendall lets out a brief laugh. "Smart."

"Yeah, now get out of my room."

"I'm going, I'm going."

* * *

Jade sits in her room for a while even after Kendall leaves. She would walk out there, but she knows she would have to make small talk with Jo if she did. Instead, she grabs a book off her bookshelf and begins to read until there's a knock on her door.

"What?" she yells.

Jo opens the door slightly. "Can I come in?"

Jade sighs, but doesn't look up from her book. "I don't care."

Jo walks in and takes a seat at the end of the bed. She glances around the room before looking at Jade. "I'm guessing this is the you Kendall was telling me about?"

"I guess so."

"What was with you earlier?"

Jade shrugs, still looking at her book. "I was having some fun with loverboy."

"Fun?"

"It's more of an insider thing."

"Oh," Jo nods. "Do you like having him as a roommate?"

"He's okay, I guess. He's not the perfect roommate, but he's the only sane one who called."

"Trust me, you'll learn to love him." Jo says. "As a roommate, I mean." she adds quickly.

Jade sets the book down beside her and looks at Jo. "Let's get one thing straight, okay?"

"Okay." Jo says confusedly.

"I'm not, nor will I ever, be interested in Knight. He's not my type and he's just my roommate. Nothing more."

"Nothing more?"

"Nothing more, hell, we're not even friends."

"Really? I kinda thought you two were."

"It's more of a one-way friendship. He considers me a friend, I don't consider him anything at all."

"Maybe not now. You have only known him for a few days and like I said, you'll learn to love him."

"Whatever." Jade responds and Jo chuckles. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that Kendall told me you say that a lot so I shouldn't be surprised if you say it an excessive amount of times throughout the day."

"He thinks he knows me so well." Jade mumbles.

"He's a great observer."

"I notice things about him, too."

"Like?"

"I've noticed he gets embarrassed easily."

Jo smiles. "Yeah. Have you been to his mom's house?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did you see the naked photo of him as a baby in the bathroom? He was so embarrassed when I first saw it."

"He wasn't embarrassed when he showed me."

"Really?"

"Well, he wasn't until I pointed out that his ass isn't as fat as it was back then."

"You check out his butt?"

"No, I just made an observation."

"Okay. I guess."

Jade sighs. "You wanna know something?"

"What?"

"You're not as bad as I thought you were gonna be."

Jo smiles. "I can say the same about you."

* * *

"Kendall, stop working so fast. Our customers want the coffee to be good, not rushed and disgusting." Camille tells Kendall as he hurries to get the coffee ready for a customer.

"Sorry."

"What's with you today?"

"Have you forgotten that Jo is left all alone at the apartment with Jade?"

"No, but neither of them has called you yet so everything must be going fine."

"Unless Jade has killed her."

Camille roll her eyes. "That's highly unlikely."

"With Jade, anything is possible."

"If it's bothering you so much, call one of them."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"We have customers." Kendall says as the coffee finishes.

Camille walks over and takes it from him. "I'll handle them for a moment, you just go talk to one of them. I love you, but you're getting on my nerves with this situation."

Kendall smiles. "Thanks, Camille. I won't be long." he tells her as he walks into the kitchen. He decides to call Jo since Jade probably wouldn't tell him what's really going on.

"Hello?" Jo answers.

"Good. You're alive."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I left you alone with Jade. Not fake Jade, but the real one."

"There's nothing to stress over, she's actually really cool."

"Did you just say Jade was cool?"

"Yeah."

"Are we talking about the same person?"

"Kendall, she really is cool. We were actually in the middle of talking when you called."

"Talking? Talking about what?" he questions.

"Nothing important."

Kendall sighs. "Could you put Jade on?"

"Yeah, sure."

"What?" Jade asks when she's handed the phone.

"What have you done to my girlfriend?"

"What are you talking about, Blondie? She's fine."

"I know that, but why are you two getting along so well?"

"I thought that's what you wanted."

"Jade, you being nice worries me."

"Who said I was being nice?"

"She said you were cool."

Jade groans. "Knight, stop being so damn paranoid. Don't you have work to be doing?"

"I just had to make sure my girlfriend was okay."

"She's great. Now hang up."

"Fine, just make sure she's still the same when I get home."

"Oh my gosh, what the hell do you think I'm gonna do?"

"You're capable of anything."

"I'm hanging up."

"Fine, bye."

"Yeah, yeah." he responds with a sigh and hangs up.

"Kendall!" he hears Camille yell. "I could use some help."

"Coming!" he yells back, slipping his phone into his pocket.

* * *

Kendall continues to be on edge for the rest of the day; even more so when he doesn't have enough time to make it home for lunch and back and has to stay at the café for his lunch break.

When he's done with everything for the day and locks up the café, he makes his way home but not without getting stuck in the L.A. traffic. He makes it to the apartment, twenty minutes later than he expected, and looks around for Jo or Jade.

"Jo?" he calls out. "Jade?" he tries again. When he doesn't get a response he walks to his room to see if Jo's in there, seeing that she's not, he walks over to Jade's room and knocks. He waits all of five seconds before opening the door and seeing Jade sitting on her bed reading.

She glances up. "What?"

"Didn't you hear me yell or knock?"

"Yeah,"

"Why didn't you answer?"

"I didn't feel like it."

Kendall sighs and rolls his eyes. "Where's Jo?"

"We ended up arguing over something and I told her to leave and she did."

"What?" Kendall yells. "Why would you do that? She doesn't even have any source of transportation! What if she's hurt? Or what if her cell died? Why didn't you call me?"

Jade smirks. "Well, aren't you mad."

"Yeah, I'm mad. Why did you tell her to leave?"

"I told you I didn't want her here in the first place. I also said that if she said or did one thing to piss me off, she has to go."

"I can't believe you, Jade!" he yells and starts pacing back and forth in front of her door.

"You really can't believe that I would do that? Seriously?" Jade asks in disbelief.

"No, I can believe it. I was just stupid to think that maybe, just maybe, you would get along with Jo. I've been on edge all day thinking about what could go wrong, but I never thought you would tell her to leave and then not even bother to tell me."

"Hey, she didn't call you either."

"Because her phone is probably dead and she probably doesn't even have any change on her so she can use a payphone."

"Calm down, Blo-"

"No, I will not calm down!" he yells, becoming even more angry. "You've done nothing but act like a huge bitch since I've been here. I don't care if you act like that towards me, but you have no right to treat Jo like that!"

Jade sets her book down and stares at Kendall for a moment before getting up. Her voice calm, yet somewhat wavering when she says, "I was just kidding with you. She's down by the pool."

Kendall's jaw drops and he immediately regrets everything he just said. "Jade, I'm-"

"Just get out." she tells him and walks into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Kendall winces at the sound and sighs, closing the door to her room and walking back into the living room. Jo comes walking in just as he takes a seat on the couch.

"Hey," she greets him and takes a seat next to him, kissing his cheek. "This whole place is amazing. I can't believe you live here."

Kendall can't bring himself to look at her, the guilt of what he said to Jade quickly eating him alive. "Yeah, it's great."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he lies. "It's just been a long day."

"Aw, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Hey, I know I told you I would take you out for dinner tonight, but do you mind if we just stay in?"

"No, that's fine. I'm a little tired, anyway. I think I'll go take a nap."

Kendall nods. "Okay."

Jo kisses his cheek once more before getting up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright. Let me know if wanna talk."

Kendall nods even though he knows he won't tell Jo about this. "Okay."

* * *

Kendall isn't sure how to exactly apologize to Jade, but he remembers his mom telling him one time that baking someone something can be a great way to do it.

He manages to scrap together the ingredients for cookies and starts to bake them. Once they're done, he allows them to cool before putting a few on a plate and walking to Jade's room. He knocks lightly on the door and can just faintly hear Jade say "go away". He opens the door anyway and Jade looks over at him.

"I told you to go away."

"I know, but I came to apologize."

Jade rolls her eyes. "I don't want your apology."

"No, but you deserve it." he says and takes a seat on the bed, setting the cookies down on the bedside table. "I'm sorry that I called you a bitch earlier, that was really wrong of me and you didn't deserve that. I just got all worked up, but that still doesn't make up for what I said. I also know that these cookies don't excuse it either, but I figured it was the least I could do. I'm not asking you to accept my apology, I just thought I should let you know."

The room falls quiet once he's done talking and he waits patiently for Jade to say something.

"Do you really think I'm a bitch?" she suddenly asks. "I've been called mean, bossy, cold-hearted, vicious, hateful, and a few other things, but never a bitch…at least not to my face."

Kendall shakes his head. "I think you're strong-minded, not a bitch. I really shouldn't had said that to you and I wish I could take it back."

Jade nods and stares at the wall in front of her.

"I'm not asking for an apology, but some sort of reaction would be nice." he tells her. "No pressure."

"Let's be honest here, Knight, I really shouldn't and don't have to forgive you."

"I know."

"But I do."

Kendall looks at her. "You do?"

"I don't wanna have to sit here and ignore you everyday. I might actually _need_ you one day."

Kendall smirks. "You admit that you need me?"

"Don't push it and I said might. I won't forget that you called me a bitch, but it just means that you owe me more than you already do."

"That's fine."

Jade reaches over and grabs a cookie. "The cookies were a nice touch."

"I was hoping they would be." he grabs one for himself before walking towards the door. "I'm about to make dinner."

"I'm not helping."

Kendall chuckles. "I wasn't asking you to. I wanted to know if there's anything you want?"

"No, I'm fine with just these cookies. Do me a favor and bring me something to drink."

"Yes, Your Highness." he responds, he's about to close the door before he stops and asks, "Does me bringing you something to drink count as owing you?"

"No, that would be too easy." Jade responds through a mouthful of cookie.

"Of course." he sighs and closes the door.

* * *

"Jade's not joining us for dinner?" Jo asks as Kendall sets their plates down on the table.

"Nah, I gave her some cookies and she said she's fine with those."

"That's sweet of you."

"It doesn't make you worry."

"If it was still early this morning it would."

"Did spending a little bit of time with Jade really change your mind?"

"Yeah," she smirks. "She doesn't seem to like you."

"As a roommate or something more?"

"I mean as a person in general."

Kendall scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Did she say that?"

"She said she doesn't consider you a friend and that you probably consider her one. She also said that she doesn't consider you anything at all."

"That sounds like something Jade would say."

Jo laughs. "I'm sure she's kidding."

"I may have only known Jade for a few days, but I know enough about her to know that she's not kidding." he informs her. "But enough about her, let's just enjoy our dinner."

Jo smiles. "Sounds perfect to me."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note: **Here's chapter six! I have chapter seven finished as well and that should be posted once my summer starts. This is really another laid back kind of chapter in a way; everything is kind of chill. You find out why Jade was crying back in chapter three and they start college in chapter eight, which I am currently working on. Enjoy!

* * *

The weekend goes by pretty fast and Jo leaves to go back to New York Sunday night. Jade started working at Café LA on Monday and she's actually really good at it. She has to learn how to be a little more cheerful, but other than that she's great. There are car rides to and from work that go by silently, Jade never wanting to talk to Kendall unless she absolutely feels like responding.

At the end of Jade's first week, Kendall offers to take her out to dinner as a celebration of not getting fired within the first week. She hesitates for a moment before agreeing, deciding it's a free meal and she can always act like he's not there. They go home and change and lounge around the apartment for awhile before they leave and make their way to the restaurant.

"Why did you pick a fancy place?" Jade complains as Kendall parks the car.

"I thought it was well-deserved and you said that you didn't care where we went."

"Yeah, but I didn't mean somewhere like this. This makes it seem like we're on a date."

"I can cancel the reservation and we'll go somewhere else."

Jade thinks about it. "Let's just go."

"I've heard this place is great and considering I'm here with you, it should be interesting."

"If it's so great, why didn't you bring Jo here?"

Kendall shrugs and opens the door. "I don't know," he walks around to the passenger side and opens Jade's door. "I guess I didn't think about it."

"Opening the door makes it seem more like a date." she says as she gets out of the car.

Kendall closes the door and locks the car before they begin walking towards the restaurant. "It's the nice thing to do."

"It's just unnecessary."

"Will I have to put up with your cockamamie arguments all night?"

"Probably."

Kendall sighs. "It's gonna be a long night." he holds the door of restaraunt open for Jade as they make their way inside and stand at the podium to wait for the maître d' to seat them.

They get to their table and order drinks and appetizers and fall into a silence.

Jade looks around the restaraunt until her gaze falls on Kendall, who is staring at her. "What?"

"I've been living with you for two weeks now and I just realized that I don't know anything about you."

"You know my name." Jade replies sarcastically.

"Obviously, I meant things that most people wouldn't. The only things I really know about you are that you have a friend named Cat, your parents are divorced, and your favorite color."

"That's enough."

He sighs. "Come on, Jade. You know things about me."

"Your point?"

"If I'm going to be living with you, I would like to know more about you."

"Fine." she groans. "Ask something."

"When's your birthday?"

"July 26."

Kendall frowns. "That was a few days ago."

"I know. That's why I went to my mother's house after work that day."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because birthdays are not important. It's just one more year of getting closer to death."

"I for one love birthdays."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"Well, happy belated birthday."

"Thanks," Jade mumbles.

"Moving on, what's your favorite movie."

Jade's face instantly lights up. "Hands down, without a doubt, The Scissoring."

"The Scissoring? What's that?"

"It's the best movie ever made. I seriously love that movie more than I love life."

"Really? It's that good?"

"Yeah, I'll have to show it to you sometime."

Kendall smiles. "I'd like that. Mind if I ask you a more personal question?"

"I guess not."

"Not that it doesn't seem like you never had, but have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Yeah," she replies simply. "I dated this guy for two years in high school."

"Why'd you break up?"

"He cheated on me."

"Wow. I'm sorry."

Jade shakes her head. "Don't be. Some things just don't work out."

"Did you know the girl?"

Jade falls into a hysterical laugh. Tears start to fall and her cheeks flush because she can't catch her breath.

"Mind telling me what's so funny?" Kendall asks once Jade calms down.

Jade chuckles a little bit. "He cheated on me with a guy."

"Damn. Didn't see that coming."

"And yeah, I knew the guy."

"Do you still talk to him?"

"Hell no," that's all she manages to get out before the waiter comes and places their drinks and appetizers in front of them.

"Jade, can I ask you something?"

"You were already doing that."

"Right. Do you like me?"

Jade shrugs and takes a sip of her drink. "You're okay."

"Would you consider me a friend?"

"I just started considering you a person, what do you think?"

"I actually think you do."

"Well, I don't,"

"That could change."

"Whatever." they say simultaneously and Jade glares at Kendall.

"What?" he chuckles. "I couldn't resist."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't. You need me, so you don't hate me."

"Speaking of that, I need your help with something."

"With what?"

"I'm taking a lot of music classes this year, would you be willing to teach me how to play the guitar?"

"Yeah, of course. Would you be willing to listen to what I tell you?"

Jade rolls her eyes. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not really. Just say when and we can start."

"Cool," Jade responds and glances over to a table. She studies the table for a moment before turning back and playing with her napkin.

Kendall looks over to where she was staring and then back at Jade. "Do you know them?" he asks.

"Kinda."

"Who are they?"

Jade looks at him. "My dad and stepmother."

"Do you talk to them?"

"My dad hates me. I guess you can figure out the answer."

"He hates you?"

"He told me I'm a huge disappointment."

Kendall thinks for a moment before asking, "Was he the reason you were crying the other week? You got a text from him?"

"Yeah," Jade responds, glancing back at the table. "I told him I got into the college I've always wanted to go to and he told me it's unfortunate how I'll never make anything out of myself because being a performer isn't a career."

"Damn."

"He also said that I probably won't graduate because I fail to complete anything or do anything right."

"Shit. He sounds like the world's biggest jackass."

"He is."

"Don't look now, but I think he's coming over here."

Jade frowns. "That's not funny."

"I'm not kidding."

Jade turns her head just as her father appears at the table.

"Jade,"

"Dad."

"I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Am I not good enough to eat at restaurants?"

"Regular restaurants, yes. This one is far too good for you."

"Dick." Jade mumbles.

"And you are?" Mr. West asks Kendall as he looks at him.

"Kendall. Jade's roommate."

"I'm sorry, I know my daughter can make things very difficult. I'm surprised she even managed to find one."

Kendall looks at Jade as she sighs before responding. "Jade's actually great. I like being able to live with her."

"Did she tell you to say that?"

"No, sir. I actually mean it."

Jade looks at Kendall and then at her dad. "Not everyone hates me like you do, Dad."

"I never said I hated you."

"No, but it has always been implied."

Mr. West sighs. "I'll see you around." he says before he makes his way back to his table.

"Great, my appetite has been ruined before dinner was even served."

"He's more than what I expected."

"He's a sorry excuse for a father." she says simply. "You didn't have to say all that, by the way."

"Say what?"

"That you actually like living with me and that you think I'm great."

"I do like living with you. It hasn't been the smoothest transition for either of us, but I've enjoyed it for the most part."

Jade takes a bite out of her food. "Always Mr. Optimist."

"Always Miss Pessimist." he counters.

She smirks. "Whatever."

* * *

The rest of their night actually goes by rather well. They small talk and Kendall manages to get a few laughs and smiles out of Jade. He's not sure why, but he feels as if the atmosphere between them has changed. He tries to just tell himself it's because they're having dinner in a romantic restaurant and not that he's actually interested in Jade.

The car ride home is a comfortable silence, not the awkward silence that they usually have. Kendall parks the car in one of the parking spaces and Jade gets out making her way inside the building. Kendall catches up to her, which is easy since Jade's waiting at the elevator.

Jade looks over at him. "Thanks."

"Did I hear wrong? Did you just say thank you?" he jokes.

"Shut up, just be glad I said it."

Kendall chuckles. "You're welcome. I had fun tonight." he tells her as they step into the elevator, an elder couple walking in a little afterwards.

The old woman smiles at them. "What a lovely couple."

Jade and Kendall look at each other and Kendall says, "We're not a couple."

"Really?" her husband asks.

"Really. We're just roommates." Jade responds.

The couple looks at each other and smile before the elevator falls silent. Jade and Kendall get off on their floor and walk to the apartment. It's not too long after their inside that Jade returns to her usual self.

"What the hell was with that look they gave each other?"

Kendall sighs as he locks the door. "Jade, please don't tell me you hate old people."

"No, but when I said we were just roommates, they looked at each other like I was lying."

"I'm sure it was nothing." he tells her and sits on the couch.

"It seems like nothing to you. I know they were thinking something."

"Calm down, West. Just breathe."

"I am breathing!" she yells, but does what he says. "Come on."

Kendall frowns. "Where are we going?"

"To your room. You're gonna teach me how to play the guitar."

"Now?"

"You said 'just say when'." she points out. "I'm saying when and when is now."

"Okay. Just know I can't turn you into the best guitar player overnight."

"It doesn't matter. I learn quickly."

Kendall stands up. "Except when it comes to cooking."

Jade punches him in the arm. "Shut up!"

"I was kidding," he says as he rubs his arm. "You can really pack a punch."

"Don't be such a baby."

"I always thought you also chose me as your roommate because I'm a guy and I could defend you; I see you could do that by yourself."

"I guess, but who really knows?" she responds with a shrug as she walks down the hall to Kendall's room.

Kendall walks in a few seconds later and grabs his guitar. "Nothing too complicated. I'm just going to really teach you how to hold it and where your fingers go and a few other things for now."

"That's fine."

"You're actually going to listen to me?"

"How else am I gonna learn?"

"Point taken. Have a seat and prepare to learn from the master."

He's not sure when it happened, but when Kendall wakes up in the middle of the night, Jade's right next to him. He doesn't even remember falling asleep. The clock on his bedside table reads 3:45am and all he wants to do is close his eyes and go back to sleep. However, with Jade right next to him he finds that it's difficult.

He groans quietly before standing and stretching. He walks over to the bathroom to relieve himself and when he comes back out, Jade's just waking up.

"What time is it?" she asks as she rubs her eyes.

"Almost four." he responds, fighting off a yawn.

She nods and stands. "I'm going back to bed."

"Okay," he says and pulls back the covers on his bed, fully prepared to continue sleeping himself. "Goodnight."

"'Night." she tells him as she makes her way to the door. "And thanks."

"You said that earlier"

Jade shrugs. "Well, I'm saying it again. I hate to admit it, but I actually had fun tonight."

"Technically last night."

"Don't ruin it."

He chuckles. "Not trying to and you're welcome. We should do it again sometime."

"We'll see." is all she says before she closes the door.

"Whatever!" Kendall yells once it closes, laughing when Jade responds by kicking his door.

* * *

Later that morning, when it was an acceptable time to get up, Jade decides to actually make breakfast for a change. She decides it's the least she can do on their day off and it's a way of becoming more friendly or something along those lines.

When Kendall walks in the kitchen, he's surprised to say the least. Jade has prepared toast, bacon, eggs, and sausage. It's not the food he's surprised over, it's the fact that Jade cooked.

"I thought you said you didn't like to cook?"

"I did."

"Then what is all this?" he asks as he grabs a piece of bacon.

"Breakfast."

"I know, but _you_ cooked it. The girl who hates cooking."

"Calm down and eat your breakfast."

Kendall looks at the piece of bacon he's holding and sets it back down on the plate. "What'd you do to it?"

"Nothing."

"Jade,"

"I have more important things to do than trying to poison you, Knight."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Just eat the damn food."

"You eat something first."

Jade sighs and picks up a fork and takes a bite out of the eggs. "See?"

"How do I know it's really safe?"

"Kendall, just eat."

"You called me Kendall." he points out, seemingly surprised.

"That's your name."

"Yeah, I just wasn't sure you knew that I actually had one. You usually call me Blondie or Knight. I haven't heard you say my name since the day we met."

"I say your name. Just not to you." she tells him and sets a plate in front of him. "Now eat."

"Fine," he replies and begins to place food on the plate. "How are you gonna spend the day off?"

"I'm not sure."

"I plan to go to my mom's for a little bit. You're welcome to join, I know she'd love to meet you."

"Do I have to meet her?"

"My mom likes to meet all of mine and Katie's friends."

"I'm not your friend."

Kendall sighs. "Well, whatever you are, she would still like to meet you."

"Why torture me?"

"It's not torture."

"I haven't asked you to meet my mom."

"I met your dad."

"That was just misfortune."

"Jade, just meet her. We don't even have to stay very long."

Jade thinks about it. "We'll stay for an hour."

"Two."

"Half an hour."

"An hour and a half."

"Fine, but no more than that."

"Deal." Kendall says and takes a bite out of his toast. "Then after that you can take me to meet your mom."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll think about it."

* * *

"Just so you know, I haven't told my mom about our arguments. As far as she knows, we get along great." Kendall tells Jade as they pull into his mom's driveway.

"Whatever," Jade responds with a shrug. "You're the one who thinks we get along in the first place."

"We do. We just have our moments."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Blondie."

"And none of that."

"None of what?"

"Calling me Blondie. It sounds condescending."

Jade scoffs. "It's your hair color."

"Yes, but the way you say it makes it sound like an insult."

"Can we just get this over with?"

"Sure."

"An hour and a half. Remember that." Jade reminds him as they get out of the car.

"Yeah, I'll remember."

"Your mom went to Minnesota because you're from there, right?" Jade asks as they walk to the door.

Kendall makes a face. "Yeah, I told you I was from there. Don't you remember?"

"I drift in and out when you talk."

"I'm not really surprised." is all he says before he opens the door. "Mom?" he calls out. "Katie?" he tries.

"Are they even home?"

"Yeah, they must be in the backyard. Come on."

They walk out to the backyard where Ms. Knight and Katie are planting some plants.

"There you two are." he says with a smile.

"You didn't tell us you were coming over." Jennifer says and stands up.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." he tells her and gives her a hug before he leans down and kisses the top of Katie's head.

"It's been a while, big brother."

"I know, two weeks seems like forever."

"Kendall..." Jennifer starts, making sure she has Kendall's attention before shifting her gaze to Jade quickly.

"Oh! This is Jade, my roommate. Jade, this is my mom and sister...obviously."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Jade." Jennifer tells her as she extends her hand.

Jade manages a polite smile and shakes her hand. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"I take it from Kendall's phone calls living together is going well?"

Jade looks at Kendall who's begging her with his eyes not to tell about the constant arguing they've been having. "Everything's been great. He's an awesome roommate."

"You're nothing like I was expecting." Katie says as she finally stands up. "I was expecting someone more girly, no offense."

"None taken. Girly isn't really my thing."

"I do like the eyebrow piercing. It's cool."

"Thanks."

Jennifer rubs her hands off on her pants. "Let us go get cleaned up and we can all sit down and talk, okay?"

"That sounds great." Kendall responds.

"Good, we'll be right back." she tells them as she and Katie make their way back into the house.

Jade walks over to the picnic table and sits down. "Any particular reason why you don't want your mom to know that we argue?"

"Because she's going to want to know details and I don't want to have to tell her that I called you a bitch."

"You can always lie."

"I don't like lying to my mom."

"You just had me lie to her and I just met the woman."

Kendall sighs and sits across from Jade. "I know and thank you for not telling her. I owe you."

"You say that a lot."

"I know."

"You're going to owe me a lot by the end of the year."

"Probably, but I don't mind."

Jade rolls her eyes. "Are you always going to be Mr. Goody-Goody?"

"I'm actually a nice person, Jade. You just happen to get under my skin a lot."

Jade smirks. "It's all in a day's work."

"Of course."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"What happened to your dad?"

"I wish I knew."

"What do you mean?"

"He walked out on us when I was five."

"Are you serious?"

Kendall nods. "Yeah, I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"That's...wow. I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "Don't be. Some things are meant to be a certain way."

"Still Mr. Optimist."

Kendall smiles. "Always."

* * *

They stay for the exact amount of time they said they would before Kendall tells his mom that they have to get going. He gives Jade the keys to his car and tells her that he'll be out the momentarily. Jade says goodbye to Ms. Knight and Katie before she walks out the door.

"What do you think of her?" he asks once Jade's out of the house.

"I think she's great." Katie says.

"She's very interesting." is what Jennifer manages.

"And by that you mean?"

"Just what I said. She's interesting."

"I'm gonna take that as a good thing."

"Do you like her?" Katie asks.

"In what way?"

"If you have to assume I mean more than one way, maybe I just killed two birds with one stone." Katie smirks.

"I like her as a friend."

"Kendall, it's me. If you like her it's no big deal. Like I said, she's cool."

"Katie, I don't like Jade that way. We're just roommates."

"That's how it starts."

"Katie, tell your brother goodbye and go finish planting those flowers."

Katie sighs. "Fine. Bye, big brother."

Kendall hugs her. "Bye. Try and stay out of trouble."

"Of course." she tells him as he lets her go and she walks back out to the backyard.

"_Do_ you like her?" Jennifer asks.

"Mom!"

"What? I just want to know."

"As a friend and a roommate. I have Jo."

"Okay, just checking." she tells him and kisses his cheek. "Drive safely."

"I will. I'll call you later."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye." he says and walks to the car where Jade is messing with the radio.

"Finally, I've been ready to go for the past hour."

Kendall closes the door. "Don't act like you didn't enjoy yourself."

"I'm not acting."

"Yeah, of course not." he responds and backs out the driveway. "Katie thinks you're cool."

"And what does Mommy Dearest think?"

"All she said was that you're interesting."

"I've learned to take that as an insult."

"I don't think she meant it as one. She just didn't know how else to describe you."

"If you say so."

"What's your mom's address?"

"We're not gonna visit my mom."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"Please." he begs.

"My mom is not anything special."

"That's a little mean."

"It is what it is." she responds nonchalantly.

"How about this: we stay at your mom's for half an hour and then go home and you can ignore me for the rest of the night."

Jade considers it. "Fine, but no talking to me unless you're dying."

"Deal. Now, where does your mom live?"

"Turn right up ahead."

* * *

"Which house is it?" Kendall asks Jade as they turn down the road to Ms. West's house.

"It's the big brick one on the left, you can't miss it."

"Is your mom nice?"

"Yeah."

"Really? Then what's your problem?" he asks with a smirk.

"You just think that you're so fucking funny." she replies.

"I do, I do."

"Well, you're not."

"Is that it?" he asks and points to a house.

"Yeah, that's it."

Kendall turns into the driveway and parks the car.

"Anything I should know before we go in?"

"Nope, you should be good." Jade tells him and gets out the car and walks to the door.

"Are you sure?"

"The only thing you really need to know is that she's going to ask a lot of questions."

"I can handle that."

"Half an hour." is all she says and walks into the house. "Mother!"

"Yes?" Ms. West yells from upstairs.

"Come down here and make sure you look decent!"

Ms. West comes walking down the stairs. "What is all the-" she stops once she sees Kendall. "Oh, hello."

"Mother, this is my roommate, Kendall."

"It's nice to meet you, Kendall. I've heard a lot about you."

Kendall smirks at Jade and shakes Ms. West hand. "It's nice to meet you, as well."

"What brings you here?" she asks Jade.

"Blondie was so hell-bent on wanting to meet you, so here we are."

"Well, I'm glad you came." she responds and leads them into the living room.

"We're not staying long." Jade says as she takes a seat.

"That's fine. How long are you staying?"

"Half an hour. So, if you're gonna grill him, grill him now."

"I'm not gonna grill him." Ms. West says and looks at Kendall. "I'm just going to simply find out if what Jade has told me about you is true."

Kendall chuckles. "That's fine."

"Okay, then. Let's get started."

* * *

"Your mom is really nice." Kendall tells Jade as they drive home.

"Yeah,"

"Do you like your mom?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, you just seemed annoyed by her."

"I'm annoyed by most people. That's really not anything new."

Kendall nods. "I guess you're right."

The remainder of the drive is quiet and for once Kendall is okay with that.

"I'm going in my room. Remember not to bother me." Jade says when they enter their apartment.

"Okay," Kendall responds as she disappears down the hall.

He sits on the couch, prepared to aimlessly watch TV when his phone starts ringing, when he looks at it, he sees that Jo's calling him.

"Hey," he says when he answers.

"Hi."

Kendall scrunches up his face. "Are you okay? You sound upset."

"Kendall," Jo sighs. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay?" he responds, but it comes out more like a question.

"Please don't hate me."

Kendall closes his eyes and sighs. "Jo, what is it?"

* * *

Jade walks into the living room an hour later and sees Kendall on the couch with his eyes closed.

"Are you sleeping or thinking?" she asks.

"Not now, Jade."

"What's with you?"

"Please, just not now."

Jade walks over to the couch and sits beside him. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."

He opens one of his eyes. "Are you gonna actually listen?"

"Yeah,"

"Jo and I broke up."

"Why? You two seemed fine last weekend."

"She said that she's in a new place and she wants to meet new people."

"She's lying."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm a girl." she says pointedly. "She said she wants to meet people because within the past week, she's managed to meet someone new that she apparently likes enough to break up with you."

"You think that's true?"

"Hate to break it to you, Knight, but I do."

"Damn," he sighs.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Since freshman year of high school."

"Wow, that's too bad."

"Yeah."

Jade looks at him, actually feeling sympathy for him, and places a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Kendall opens his eyes completely and offers Jade a little smile. "Thank you."

"No problem."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note: **Chapter seven is here! I'm officially on summer vacation which means I should have more time to focus on writing. Here's a little warning: the ending is not the best. I didn't know how to end it, so I just kind of did something to get it to a stopping point. College life is in the next chapter, but it won't be extremely detailed; just a little recap. This is another chapter in which everything goes along pretty smoothly. Jade and Kendall are, for the most part, done with the constant bickering. Jade still won't admit how she really feels about Kendall, but that's fine with him. They are more friendly with each other, which I think is good for everybody, but all good things must come to an end sooner or later; that means it won't always be this easy. Oh, and the song that Jade sings is "Bam Bam Bam" by Elizabeth Gillies. Enjoy!

* * *

Kendall spends the remainder of his weekend off moping around the apartment. Jade tries to ignore him, but actually feels bad for him so she invited him to go to the beach with her and Cat Sunday afternoon.

Monday through Friday is spent with long work hours and lazy evenings doing nothing around the apartment. Kendall seemed fine while he was working, but would lock himself in his room when they got home. It doesn't help that he has a photo of him and Jo sitting up in his room (he can't bring himself to get rid of it).

The next week goes like the previous one with a few changes. Their hours at work have shortened because they start school the following Monday. Friday after work, Jade tries to get Kendall to go out with her somewhere, but he doesn't budge.

"Knight, you've been moping around for two weeks. Let's go out and get your mind off of it."

"I appreciate that you're trying to be nice because it's not your area of expertise, but I rather stay here."

"Let's just go out to the movies."

"I don't wanna go out to the movies."

"Then we can order one."

"Jade," Kendall groans.

"You need to get out of your bad mood. Be happy. You start college in two days. I would expect for you to be excited."

"I would be if things didn't turn out the way they did."

"Listen, Blondie, shit happens. Just build a fucking bridge and get over it. If you're meant to be with her, it'll work out."

"Maybe."

"So, stop being a little bitch and enjoy your last days of summer."

"You're not good at pep talks."

"I'm not trying to be."

Kendall sighs. "I guess you're right, though."

"Of course I am."

"I still don't wanna watch a movie."

"I don't care. I didn't wanna watch one with you in the first place."

"Gee, thanks."

Jade pats his shoulder. "No problem." she stands up and grabs her keys.

"Where are you going?"

"Out with Cat. I would've been gone a long time ago, but I wanted to make sure you didn't off yourself."

Kendall nods. "Oh."

Jade walks to the door and places her hand on the doorknob before looking back at him. "You can come."

Kendall manages a polite smile. "Thanks, but I think I need some time to myself."

"Suit yourself." she says and walks out the door.

* * *

"Do you think Kendall would date me?" Cat asks as she and Jade walk the streets of downtown Los Angeles.

"Cat, he was just dumped by his girlfriend of like four years. I don't think he wants to date anyone."

"But when he's ready do you think he'll date me?"

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"No."

Cat sticks her bottom lip out. "Way to burst my bubble."

"You wanted honesty."

"Yeah, I know." she sighs. "Is he okay?"

"I guess. He's still moping, but he's better than he was when it first happened."

"Does he cry about it?"

"I don't know. If he does, he does it when I'm not around."

"Probably because you'll laugh at him."

"I wouldn't laugh." she replies.

"Why? You like laughing at other people's pain."

"I just wouldn't." Jade snaps, refusing to tell her that she wouldn't laugh because Kendall didn't laugh at her when she cried. Cat still doesn't know about that incident.

"Would you date him now that he's single?"

"No. I don't like him that way."

"But you do like him in some kind of way." Cat says in a flirty tone as she pokes Jade's side.

Jade swats her hands away. "Don't touch me. And I never said I liked him in any kind of way."

"You said he was okay."

"But I never said I liked him."

"But-"

"Cat, drop it!"

"Fine," she huffs. "Can we go get some frozen yogurt?"

"Sure, but you're buying."

"I always buy." Cat whines.

"Then you should be used to it."

* * *

Jade arrives back at the apartment ten minutes after she and Cat leave the frozen yogurt shop. She doesn't see Kendall in his usual spot on the couch, so she walks to his room. She sticks her head in his door, but sees no sign of him.

"Kendall?"

Kendall comes walking out of his bathroom, running a hand through his shower-damp hair. "Yeah?"

Jade shakes her head. "Nothing, I was just seeing were you here."

"Here I am."

Jade steps in his room. "Here," she says as she sticks out her hand holding a small bowl of frozen yogurt. "Cat and I went and got some frozen yogurt, I brought you back some."

"Thank you." he smiles, the first real smile he's done in two weeks, and takes it. "And it's chocolate, my favorite."

"Yeah, well, I just...picked something."

Kendall smirks. "Did you pick it or did you remember me saying it?"

"It's nice to see you're back to your usual self." she tells him, ignoring his question.

"It's okay to remember things about me, Jade. I remember things about you, too."

"Okay, Mr. Know It All, give me an example."

"I remember that you're allergic to lilies."

"I didn't tell you that."

"Your mom did."

"When the hell did she say that?"

"When we were at her house that day. I think you might've toned us out at some point."

"Whatever,"

"I'm actually in the mood to go out now." he says as he takes a bite out of his frozen yogurt.

"Well, I'm not."

"Then can I take you up on your ordering a movie idea?"

"No," she responds. "I have a better idea."

"What?"

"You, Blondie, are about to watch The Scissoring for the first time."

"I hope it's as good as you make it out to be."

"Oh, it is."

* * *

The Scissoring is actually better than Kendall thought it would be. The entire time Jade was quiet, paying close attention like she hasn't seen the movie a thousand times already.

The movie ends and Jade grabs the remote to turn off the TV. "What'd you think?"

"It was amazing. It's definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen."

"Told you."

"So, it's only nine o'clock. What do we do now?"

"I don't know about you," she says and stands up. "But I'm going to go finish a song I've been working on."

"Can I hear it?"

Jade thinks about it. "Why should I let you?"

Kendall shrugs. "You don't have to; I was just asking."

"You can hear a little."

"That's fine."

They walk into Jade's room and Jade takes a seat at her keyboard while Kendall leans against the door frame.

"You're not going to play the guitar?"

"Since you've been so depressed the past two weeks I haven't learned anything more than what you taught me that night."

"Oh," he says sheepishly. "I'm sorry, we can start on that again whenever you want."

Jade nods and begins to play. Kendall listens, just simply enjoying the sound, but then Jade begins to sing and it's like he goes into a trance.

"Well I've been thinking about the last weekend  
When we were alone  
I switched the lights  
But Mr. Polite  
You must've gone and left your rocks at home  
Making plans and holding my hands  
Send shivers down my spine  
What's coming next  
Oh, let me take a guess  
You want to know my sign."

She stops suddenly and looks at Kendall. "That was your preview. What do you think?"

Kendall smirks. "Do you really care for my opinion?"

Jade shrugs. "It wouldn't hurt."

"I like it. I didn't know you could sing. Your voice is amazing."

"Thanks,"

"How much do you have written?"

"I have the first verse through the chorus written. I've been working on the second verse."

"I can't wait to hear the whole thing."

"Who says you're going to hear the whole thing in the first place?"

"I do."

"Keep dreaming, Knight."

"Fine, I guess I'll go try to finish the rest of _my_ song."

"Don't care."

"Well, then. Goodnight, Jade."

"Why're you saying goodnight?"

"Because I'm assuming I won't see you anymore tonight."

"Yeah, you probably won't." she agrees as she runs her fingers across the keys. "'Night."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Saturday afternoon, they each do their own thing. Kendall spends time with his mom and Katie while Jade does some last minute shopping for school.

Kendall gets around to taking down everything that reminds him of Jo when he gets home later that day. He has to admit, he feels a lot better once it's all gone. Jade comes home when he's in the middle of it and offers to help. Kendall lets her and is fine with it up until Jade starts burning photos of Jo. He thinks about stopping her, but realizes it's more funny than anything so he lets her continue.

The rest of their night is spent watching TV, silently for the most part, and Kendall teaching Jade a little more about how to play the guitar. They end the session around one in the morning and go their separate ways into their bedrooms.

Sunday is when Kendall is at his all-time happiness. He's singing as he makes breakfast, actually dancing around the kitchen and Jade leans against the island watching him as he sways his body to the song he's singing while flipping a pancake.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

Kendall curses under his breath and turns around. "You've got to stop doing that!"

"Nah. It's too much fun."

"It's all fun and games until you give me a heart attack one day."

"Whatever. Now, answer my question."

"College life starts tomorrow."

"Oh, I thought it was something important."

"It is important, Jade. We are officially adults."

"I guess." she says and takes a bite out of an apple.

Kendall puts the last pancake on a plate and turns to look at Jade. "I know you're bursting with excitement on the inside."

"You know nothing."

"By the way, our work schedule was e-mailed to me this morning."

Jade groans. "Why do we always have the same schedule?"

"Because it makes things easier and we both save gas because we can ride together."

Jade rolls her eyes. "What days are we working?"

"Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday."

"Great, I have to work on the weekend."

"Yes, but it's only one day and we're only gonna be there from 9 to 3."

"Fine," she sighs. "I guess that's okay."

"Now, get excited. We are gonna spend the last day of summer having some fun."

"I don't wanna do anything with you."

"Jade, baby, we have to do something exciting because from tomorrow until May, our lives revolve around school and work."

"My life revolves around what I want it to and don't call me baby."

"I didn't mean it that way and your life will revolve around school and work whether you like it or not."

"We'll see."

"So, you really don't wanna go out and find something fun to do?"

"With you? No. I'd rather get mauled by a bear. I'd probably enjoy that."

"I find it extremely creepy that you're such a sadist."

"Pain is pleasing."

"Whatever you say. Hurry up and eat so we can go out."

"Where?"

"I was thinking the beach."

"I don't like the beach."

"You don't like a lot of things."

"True, but I don't like the beach. Being in the sun too long bothers me."

Kendall walks behind Jade and wraps his arms around her, squeezing her. "Go to the beach with me."

"Let go of me!" she yells and struggles to get out of his hold on her.

"I will if you say yes."

"No!"

"Go to the beach with me." he singsongs.

"Knight," Jade says still try to wiggle out of his arms.

"Please?"

"No way in hell!"

"We can stay like this, I have nothing but time today."

"Let. Me. Go."

"Aww, are you getting mad?"

"I am going to kill you."

"You're not a very good hugger."

"Because I'm not hugging you, asshole!"

"Just say you'll go to the beach with me and I'll let you go."

Jade groans. "I'll go to the damn beach with you!"

"Promise?"

"Yes, now let me go!"

Kendall releases her and Jade turns around and hits his arm. "You're so violent."

"Obviously."

"Making you mad is actually really funny sometimes."

"Because you're a dick."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy that."

"I swear I'm gonna kill you in your sleep tonight."

Kendall chuckles. "I'm sure you will, Jade."

"Don't underestimate me."

"Who's underestimating you? I was just agreeing with you."

Jade throws the rest of her apple in the trash and grabs a fork to pick up her pancake and put on a plate. "You're such an ass."

"Thank you. I've always aspired to be one."

Jade picks up her plate and begins to leave the kitchen. "Fuck you, Knight."

Kendall lets out a loud laugh. "Love you, too!" he shouts.

* * *

They arrive at the beach an hour later than Kendall planned; he had to practically drag Jade out of her room and once he got her out, he had to carry her over his shoulder to keep her from running back to her room. They find a spot where there aren't many people and Kendall sets up the beach umbrella while Jade places the beach blankets and chairs down.

"Are you even gonna get in the ocean while we're here?" Kendall asks Jade as she rubs sunscreen on herself.

"I don't plan on it. I said I would come here with you, I didn't say I would have fun."

Kendall grabs the sunscreen from her and shrugs. "Suit yourself. What're you gonna do then?"

Jade pulls off her shirt to reveal her bikini top underneath and grabs her book. "Read."

"That's all?"

"Yep." she replies and sits in one of the beach chairs.

Kendall looks at her arm before saying, "I didn't know you had a tattoo." he's not that surprised he hadn't realized; Jade usually has a long-sleeved shirt on and he never paid attention to her arm until now.

"Yeah," she says as she opens up her book. "I got that and the piercings after my mother told me I couldn't get them."

"Living life dangerously."

"Always."

"Are you sure you don't wanna come in the ocean?"

"Yep."

"This is all you're gonna do?"

"Yep."

"Jade, babe-"

"Stop with that shit."

"I'm kidding with you." he says with a laugh. "But come on, it's a beautiful day and all you wanna do is sit under an umbrella the entire time?"

"You have your definition of fun and I have mine."

"Okay, then." he responds and walks towards the ocean.

"Finally," she says to herself. "Some peace and quiet."

* * *

After an hour of reading, Jade becomes bored and tries to take a nap. She's almost asleep when Kendall comes walking back over.

"Tired?"

"Not really."

"I think I'm done with the beach for the day."

"Good, because I want you to go somewhere with me."

"Where?"

"Tattoo shop."

"You're kidding me right?"

"Nope, I've wanted another one for a while now and I plan on getting one today."

"What tattoo shop is open on a Sunday?"

"Trust me, I know one. Clean yourself up so we can go."

"You're really gonna do this?"

"Yep."

"I guess we're going to a tattoo shop then."

* * *

Kendall pulls up the tattoo shop which appears to be in the worst area of Los Angeles. He looks around the area and immediately feels like his life's in danger.

"You coming in?"

He thinks about saying no, but he doesn't want Jade to go in by herself since the area doesn't look like the safest place. "Yeah,"

They get out the car and Kendall double checks to make sure all the doors are locked before they walk in. The girl that greets them has tattoos on every visible part of her body except her face and asks them to have a seat.

"You're really going through with this?"

"Yes. Stop asking me that."

"Sorry. What're you getting?"

"A butterfly."

Kendall lets out a little laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Don't judge me. I like butterflies."

"I know, I've noticed them in your room. I just didn't think you would get that as your tattoo."

"Why?"

"That star on your arm is pretty sick. It seems more like you. A butterfly doesn't."

"You said I was full of surprises."

"That you are."

Kendall opts to not go in once it's Jade's turn to get her tattoo. He flips aimlessly through some magazines until Jade comes walking out.

He stands up and asks, "Where'd you get it?"

"Left shoulder blade."

"Did it hurt?"

Jade shrugs. "I don't know about anyone else who has ever gotten a tattoo, but I enjoyed it."

"Right," he responds with a nod. "You're the Princess of Pain and Queen of Darkness."

Jade pats his cheek as she reaches for the door. "That I am, Blondie."

Kendall walks out the door behind her and unlocks the car. He gets in and shuts the door before saying, "I don't think I could ever get a tattoo."

"Doesn't surprise me," Jade tells him as she puts on her seatbelt.

Kendall does the same. "What? Am I not tattoo material?"

"You're too boy next door for something like that."

"Boy next door?"

"Yeah. You're too nice and innocent to get something that you'll have to have for the rest of your life."

Kendall starts the car. "I think you're wrong."

"Think what you want, but I know I'm right."

"If you say so." he responds and starts off down the road. "Feel like grabbing some lunch?"

"Sure. I guess another hour out couldn't kill me."

* * *

Kendall takes Jade to one of his favorite sushi bars. Once they're seated and have their menus, Kendall begins working on small talk with Jade.

"So," he begins.

"Must we talk?" she asks as she looks at her menu.

"We can't just sit here in silence."

"Yes, we can."

"That's awkward. Talk to me."

"I am talking to you."

"Yeah, but you don't wanna talk."

Jade glances up over the top of her menu. "True."

"Do you act like this with everyone you hang out with?"

"I only hang out with Cat, and no, I usually carry some sort of conversation with her."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Don't you always?" she answers with a sigh.

"Cute," he says with a roll of his eyes. "Do you have any other friends besides Cat?"

"Does that matter?"

"I guess not. I was just curious."

"If you must know, Cat is really my only friend."

"Don't you want more friends instead of just having one?"

"Why? I've been friends with Cat practically my entire life and I'm fine with that."

"It's kind of boring having just one friend."

"Do you have any other friends? The only one I've ever heard you talk about is Camille."

"I do have other friends. Most of them moved out of state for college and our co-workers at work are my friends; I've known a lot of them since I started working there. And of course, there's you."

"We're not friends." Jade tells him almost immediately after the words leave his mouth.

"You may not want to admit it, but we are friends on some kind of level."

"I've known you for almost a month. That's not enough time to become friends."

"It is to me."

"I don't believe you actually consider me your friend. I think you say that just to bug me."

"No, I actually do. If you weren't my friend, I wouldn't have walked in with you so you could get your tattoo."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, but that neighborhood was a little creepy; even for eleven in the morning. If you went in and something bad happened, I would feel bad."

Jade sets her menu down. "What? Are you my protector now?"

"I just want to make sure you're okay."

A smile starts to form on Jade's face, but she quickly gets rid of it. It doesn't go unnoticed by Kendall, however. "You're such a softie, Knight."

"That may be, but at least you have a roommate who cares about you. And I have one who cares about me, right?"

Jade hesitates, but ultimately ends up saying, "I may not consider you a friend, but yes, Knight, I care about you on some level."

Kendall is surprised into a smile by that. "That's all I ask."

* * *

After they leave the sushi bar, they decide to go walking around town window shopping. The conversation is light, each talking about things that they see, and Jade's actually having fun until some guy bumps into her and she almost falls completely to the ground. Kendall catches her and when she stands straight she glares at the person, who's bending down to retrieve the items he dropped.

"Dude, what the hell? A little 'I'm sorry' would be nice to hear." she yells at him.

"My bad, I obviously didn't see you." he says and picks up the last item. "I'm sorry-" he stops once he stands up and looks at Jade, his facial expression immediately going to one of shock.

Jade goes silent before grabbing Kendall by his arm and brushing past the person. "Let's go."

"The car's the other way." he tells her as she drags him along.

"I know that."

"Then where are we going?"

"Anywhere." she says and pulls him along faster. "Pick up the pace!"

"Jade!" she hears the person yell.

"You know him?" Kendall asks.

"Yeah,"

"Jade!" the guy tries again, picking up his pace in an attempt to catch up with them.

"Who is he?"

"No one important." she tells him as they stop at the end of the curb. "Damn traffic." she mumbles. She's thinks about taking the chance and running through the traffic, but doesn't get to finish the thought because the guy comes standing next to her.

"Nice to see you're still the same person. Always running away from your problems."

"Did you chase after me to ridicule me?"

"No, I just haven't seen you in a while and I thought we could talk for a moment."

Jade rolls her eyes. "We have plans."

The guy makes a face and then looks at Kendall. "Are you her boyfriend?"

"I'm her-"

"Yeah," Jade cuts him off. "This is my boyfriend. Kendall. Kendall, this is Beck."

"I'm her ex. I'm sure she's never told you about me, though."

"I have. You remember don't you, Kendall? He's the gay one."

Kendall licks his lips nervously and says, "Yeah, I remember."

They all fall into an awkward silence until Beck breaks the silence. "I have to get going. You look great, Jade."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Nice meeting you, Kendall."

"Same here."

Beck nods and turns around making his way back down the sidewalk.

Jade lets out a sigh of relief. "Never thought I would see him again."

"Never thought I would hear you use my name and boyfriend in the same sentence."

"Thanks for that."

"No problem."

"I'm really no longer in the mood to continue window shopping."

"That's fine. What do you want to do?"

"I want to go home. So. Let's do that." she says and makes her way back to the direction of the car.

"Yeah," Kendall says to himself. "Let's do that."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note: **Chapter eight here! I intended to have this out earlier than today, but whatever. Here it is. There's a little bit of drama, but nothing too heavy. They've finally started college life! Like I said, it's not extremely descriptive, just a little recap of what their first week was like. You see a little more of them caring about each other and that's basically it. Another easy, breezy chapter. Oh, and I Googled that thing about the banana and water. It said somewhere that coffee isn't the best thing for a hangover, so I went with those instead. Enjoy!

* * *

Their first week of college goes by with ease. They end up having one class together, which Jade wasn't thrilled about, but she didn't let that ruin her first week of college life.

Kendall's working on one of his first assignments when Jade comes walking in. He notices her presence, but doesn't say anything.

"Hey!"

"Hey," he responds and continues typing.

"Can you take a brief break?"

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Kendall sighs and saves his work and looks at her. "Talk to me."

"In one of my classes these guys were talking about having a sick party tonight and I was thinking about going."

"A party? It's the first week of school and a party is already being thrown?"

"Hell yeah. What better time to have one? Anyway, I wanted to know if you wanna come?"

"No, thanks."

"Come on, Blondie, live a little."

"I'm not really a party person."

Jade leans against his desk. "Doesn't surprise me, but you can't honestly tell me you want to spend your night here by yourself."

"No, but I don't wanna go with you to a party either."

"Fine," Jade says. "I'll go by myself." she tells him and begins to walk out his room.

"Wait!" he yells after her. "I'll go with you. Not because I want to, but because if you drink, you'll need a designated driver."

"Good enough for me. We're leaving at eight."

Kendall nods. "Okay,"

"You'll thank me for this later." she says and leaves.

Kendall turns back to his laptop to continue writing his paper. "I hope so."

* * *

Kendall drives to the address Jade tells him to go and when they arrive the house is already packed.

"Damn," Kendall breathes out.

"This looks like a good time." Jade says and unbuckles her seat belt.

"This looks like a noise complaint."

"Quit being a Negative Nancy; that's my job. Your job is to be my personal driver for the night and not bring down my mood."

"I hope you remember we have work in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and get out of the car." she tells him and opens her door. Kendall does the same and follows her to the house.

Once they're inside, Jade separates from Kendall and goes over to some girl who he assumes Jade met in one of her classes. He stands there and feels awkward doing so, so he decides to go explore.

Walking around, he notices some people from his classes; none of which he can name. He's about to make his way into the kitchen to grab something to drink when a girl, who's already beyond drunk, comes crashing into him.

She glances up at Kendall and slurs, "Sorry,"

He offers a polite smile. "It's okay."

"You...you're cute."

Kendall lets out a little laugh. He's not gonna lie, the girl is really attractive. She's about Jade's height, long dark brown hair, and tan skin; he would totally go for her, but being drunk and disorderly is a huge turn off for him.

"Wanna have some fun?" she asks and takes a swig of the beer she has in her hand.

"No, thanks."

"Okay, then." she says and walks away, her balance slightly off.

He walks into the kitchen and thinks about getting some punch, but changes his mind after the thought of someone might have put something in it crosses his mind. He settles for grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator instead.

"Pansy." someone comments.

He turns around and sees Jade standing with a can of beer in her hand. "Think what you want. Someone has to drive you home."

"You look uncomfortable."

"I don't like parties. Well, parties like this I should say."

"No damage is being done, Blondie. Everyone is here because they want to have fun and loosen up."

"Well, I'm fine standing here by myself with my bottle of water."

"Whatever," she says and walks out the kitchen.

* * *

Kendall ends up leaving the comfort of the kitchen when it becomes crowded with drunk people. He opts for sitting on the stairs and playing around on his phone for the time being.

Jade comes stumbling over to him about an hour and a half later and sits beside him. "Whatcha doing?"

"Passing time by. Are you drunk?"

"Noooo." she says with a little laugh.

"Yeah, you are."

"Doesn't matter," she tells him and stands up. "Come dance with me." she begs and pulls him up.

"Jade, I don't wanna dance. You're drunk, we should go home."

Jade wraps her arms around his neck. "Dance with me."

"Okay, now I know for sure you're drunk."

Jade mumbles something unintelligent that Kendall doesn't catch and rests her head on his chest.

"What'd you say?"

"What did you say?"

"Jade."

"Kendall." she mimics.

"Let's go."

Jade starts swaying her body with the music. "Not until you dance with me."

"Jade," he says and looks down at her.

Jade lifts her head up to look at him. "What?"

"We need to go."

Jade stares at him for a moment. "I...we...I want to stay." she whines.

"No. You need to go."

Jade grabs Kendall's hands and places them on her hips. "Dance."

"No."

Jade sticks out her bottom lip. "You're being mean to me."

"Yeah, well, you're mean to me all the time."

"But I love you."

"You say that because you're drunk."

"Nuh-uh. I do love you."

"Whatever you say, Jade." he tells her, becoming aggrivated. He's not mad at Jade for being drunk, he's mad at the fact that she won't budge on leaving.

"Say it back."

"I love you, too. Like I said last weekend, I care about you; that's why I need to get you home."

"Kendall." she whines.

"Please, let's go."

Jade stares at him again. "You're cute."

"And you're delirious."

Jade suddenly kisses him and he's completely taken back. "Do you believe what I say now?" she asks when she pulls away.

Kendall takes his hands off her hips and moves to pick Jade up bridal style. He carries her to the car while Jade kicks and whines about how she doesn't want to leave. He places her in the passenger seat and puts her seat belt on before he gets in the car himself.

The drive home is silent once Jade falls asleep and for a change, Kendall's glad it's quiet. When he pulls into the parking lot, he shuts off the car and walks over to Jade's side. He unbuckles her and picks her up, locking the car in the process. Once they're inside, he carries her to her room and places her on the bed. He removes her shoes for her and pulls back the covers.

He's on his way out the door when Jade turns around in her bed and says, "Stay."

"I'm going to my own room, Jade. Go back to sleep." he says gently.

"Stay here with me."

Kendall sighs and goes, he's not really up for arguing at this point. He kicks off his shoes and takes off his button up to reveal his white t-shirt underneath and lies down on the bed next to her. Jade scoots a little closer and closes her eyes.

"Thank you," she mumbles.

"Yeah," he whispers. "You're welcome."

* * *

Jade wakes up with a killer hangover. She thinks for a second it's still early, but realizes her curtains are closed and are keeping the sunlight out. She glances over at the clock and realizes it's past four in the afternoon. Pacing herself, she slowly gets out of bed and walks into her bathroom. After relieving herself and washing her face, she walks into the living room where Kendall is sitting on the couch.

He hears Jade enter the room and turns around. "Hey," he greets.

Jade rubs her temples. "What the hell did I do last night?"

"Apparently you drank beer...a lot of it."

"I realize." she takes a seat on the couch and curls into a ball.

"You're a lot nicer when you're drunk."

"I've been told that before."

"How often do you get drunk?"

"Not a lot. I didn't plan on getting drunk last night, but shit happens."

"Well, you missed work. I covered for you, I just said that you woke up really sick and it wasn't a good idea for you to come in. I also asked Camille to come in and cover your shift."

"Was she pissed?"

"No, she said she could use the extra pay."

"Thanks for saving my ass."

"No problem."

"By the way, why are your shoes and shirt in my room?"

"You asked me to sleep with you."

"I asked you to do what?" she yells and immediately regrets it and groans.

"No, no, no. I didn't mean it that way. I mean you just wanted me to sleep in the same bed with you."

"Oh, that's fine...I guess."

"You did kiss me last night, however."

"I did not."

"Yeah, you did. Completely caught me off guard."

"And what did you do?"

"Nothing. It was just a quick peck on the lips."

"Why did I kiss you?"

"You said I was cute."

Jade scoffs. "I know for sure now that I was drunk."

"Is that your way of calling me ugly?"

"Take it how you want. That's not how I meant it, though."

"You also said you loved me."

Jade stays quiet, burying her face in the couch.

"No comment for that, Madame Drinks-A-Lot?"

"Nope." she says into the cushion.

"Well, then. I'll get you some water and a banana; I hear they're good for a hangover."

"Thanks,"

"Mmm-hmm."

Kendall comes back not too much later with a cup of water and a banana in his hands.

"Your items."

Jade slowly turns around into a normal sitting position and takes the cup and banana. "You really are a good guy, Kendall."

"I'm sorry?"

"Every other time I was hungover, no one cared. You're the only person who's tried to help me—with anything for that matter."

Kendall looks at her and smiles. "Always here to help."

"Not gonna comment on the fact that I called you Kendall?"

"No, though it is appreciated."

The room falls quiet as Jade drinks her water and eats her fruit. After a while, Jade sets her cup down and stands up.

"Feeling better?"

"I think I'm gonna hurl." she says and throws her hand over her mouth and takes off to the bathroom in the hall.

Kendall walks in just as she empties her system into the toilet. He kneels down beside her and pulls her hair back and rubs her back. Once she's finished, she sits back with a groan while Kendall wets a washcloth and hands it to her.

"Thank you." she says and wipes her mouth.

"You're welcome."

"Remind me to never drink ever again."

Kendall nods as he reaches over to flush the toilet. "You've got it."

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"But wouldn't you enjoy that?"

"Not the time, Knight."

"Sorry," he responds sheepishly.

"Well, I slept half the day and I feel like I'm about to die; I guess there's no point of going out."

"Guess not."

Jade slowly gets up and washes her hands before brushing past Kendall. "I need to go brush my teeth. And shower. And probably go back to sleep."

"No offense, but you should probably wash your clothes. You smell like weed."

Jade sniffs her shirt. "That's where that smell is coming from. I knew I smelled something, I just didn't know where and why."

"You smoked weed last night, too?"

"No, I was standing near these guys who were."

"Secondhand smoking. It's practically the same thing."

Jade rolls her eyes and continues to her room. "Not in my book, Blondie."

Kendall leans against the door frame.

"Are you gonna watch me undress or something?" she asks as she turns around.

"No, I just didn't know if you were done with the conversation."

"Well, I am. Leave, please."

"Normally I wouldn't listen to you, but since you said please, I will."

"Ooh, thanks." she responds sarcastically before walking over to the door, pushing Kendall out, and closing the door in his face.

"You're welcome!" he yells and proceeds to walk into the living room.

* * *

Jade does exactly what she told Kendall she would; she showered and brushed her teeth and put her clothes in the washing machine before taking an hour long nap. When she wakes up, she goes into the living room to find Kendall strumming his guitar and singing softly to the beat.

"What're you playing?" she asks, surprising him.

"Seriously! Stop doing that!"

"Calm down." she tells him as she takes a seat next to him, picking up the notebook he had in front of him. "Working on a song?"

Kendall takes it away from her. "Yeah. Just finished, actually."

Jade nods her head in response. "Is it that song you played that day at your mom's house?"

"Yeah."

"I liked the way that sounded." she says and takes the guitar from him, placing her fingers in their designated spots. "Didn't it go like this?" she asks as she begins strumming almost perfectly.

Kendall watches her, completely shocked. One, because he didn't expect Jade to remember that's what he was playing; two, he didn't think she would really pick up on playing the guitar that fast; and three, she's really good at it.

Jade stops strumming once she gets to the part she doesn't know how to play. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. That was it. That was perfect. I didn't think you would be that great at playing already."

"I told you I learn fast."

"Yeah, but usually people aren't that great after two lessons."

Jade shrugs and gives him his guitar back. "I guess you're not that bad of a teacher after all."

"And I know now that you actually pay attention to me."

"Don't flatter yourself too much, I also watched some videos on YouTube."

"Doesn't matter. You still learned something from me."

Jade rolls her eyes. "What's the name of this song anyway? I didn't see a title on the top of the page."

"The title's not important. The song was for Jo in the first place."

"If it was for her, why'd you finish it?"

"I don't like to leave a song unfinished."

"Of course you don't."

Kendall sets his guitar down and closes the notebook. "Do you feel like going out now?"

"Where?"

"Camille and I were gonna go have dinner somewhere, you're more than welcome to join."

"You have to start hanging out with more dudes, Knight."

"And you have to start hanging out with more people, period, West."

"I think I'll stay here."

"Come on, Jade. Come have some fun."

"I think I had enough fun in the past 24 hours to last me the rest of the year."

"Very true, but I still want you to come."

Jade turns the TV on. "No,"

"Okay," he responds and grabs his keys, but quickly sets them back down. "Mind if I take your car? I'm running a little low on gas."

"Go ahead." she tells him as she flips through the channels.

"Thanks. I'll be back later."

"Whatever."

* * *

"Finally, I thought you would never get here." Camille says as she climbs into the car.

"I'm like five minutes late, Camille."

"Doesn't matter. Late is late." she tells him as she puts on her seat belt. "Why aren't you driving your car?"

"I'm almost out of gas."

"I'm surprised Madame Evil let you drive hers."

"She's not evil." he says and backs out of her driveway.

"Sure seems like it. She's not exactly friendly."

"She's gotten better, though."

"Do you like her?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Camille shrugs. "I don't know, it just seems like you do."

"Jade's a roommate. She's not my type and I'm almost positive I'm not hers."

"What is your type? I've only seen you with Jo, so I didn't even know you had a type."

"I like girls who are positive; Jade can be pessimistic. I like girls who are nice to people; Jade, obviously, isn't all that nice. I prefer blondes; she's brunette. And I could go on, but I won't."

"What do you like about her that makes her a friend?"

"She can be fun when she wants to be. I find her interesting and we do have a lot more things in common than you would think."

"And she may have an ugly attitude, but you have to admit she's actually really pretty."

Kendall nods. "I never said she wasn't. I do think she's pretty, especially her eyes."

Camille laughs. "Are you sure you don't wanna date her?"

"Positive. Jade and I are good being whatever it is we are."

"And what are you?"

"Roommates...and I guess friends in some kind of way."

"You two are totally gonna hook up before the school year is out."

"We are not."

"Yeah, you will. I can sense it; I'm good at these kind of things, Kendall."

Kendall sighs. "Jade and I will never hook up." he refrains from mentioning the quick kiss that happened the night before.

"Never say never."

* * *

Jade's sitting on the couch watching a movie and eating popcorn when Kendall comes back.

"Hey," he greets and sets her keys down. "I put more gas in your car as a thank you."

"Thanks."

Kendall takes a seat next to her. "What're you watching?"

"I don't know, some sappy love story."

"And you're watching this because...?"

"There's nothing else on and I don't feel like ordering a movie."

He nods his head a grabs a handful of popcorn. "We have a lot of things in common, right?" he asks suddenly.

"I guess so. Why?"

"I told Camille we did, but after thinking about it we only really have about a handful of things in common."

"That you know of."

"Yeah, you're such a closed book." he says through a mouthful of popcorn.

"Yep."

"Camille said you and I will hook up by the end of the school year."

Jade laughs. "That's never gonna happen."

"I know! I told her that."

"I'm way out of your league and you're not my type."

"Okay, that first thing was offensive and you're not exactly my type either."

"Oh, I know your type."

"Do you? Please, enlighten me."

"You like dainty girls who will need you because you like to feel needed. You need a girl who's gonna be in it for the long run. Niceness is key for you, apparently, because you're so nice yourself. Optimism is probably something that you would want, too. She has to practically be a walking Barbie doll."

"She does not have to be a walking Barbie doll."

"But was I right about the rest?" she asks with a smirk.

Kendall rolls his eyes. "Shut up."

"You're the typical guy. Almost any nice blonde will do it for you."

"I like brunettes. They just don't really catch my attention. I just happen to think blondes are cuter."

"Anyone else would be offended by that, but I don't care."

"I wasn't saying you weren't attractive. I actually told Camille that you are pretty."

"Why were you two talking about the way I look?"

"She said you're kinda ugly on the inside, but really pretty on the out. I just agreed with her that you are pretty."

Jade focuses her attention back on the TV without saying anything back to Kendall.

"You could give me a compliment as well, you know?"

Jade looks at him for a moment. "The color of your eyes are pretty. They're not like most green eyes I've seen; they're really light."

Kendall tries to ignore the fact that Jade complimented his eyes just like he did hers earlier. "Thank you." he manages to say. "I like the color of your eyes, too. They seem to change color."

"They do. Sometimes they're blue, sometimes green."

"That's cool."

"Anyways, let's get back to the subject of the type of girls you like."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like you're never gonna go out with any girl ever again because of what that bitch ex-girlfriend did to you."

Kendall chuckles. "You really do care about me."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point, Wise One?"

"The point is you need to get back out there in the dating world."

"Jo and I have been broken up for like three weeks."

"And you spent two of them crying over it."

"I didn't cry!"

Jade gives him a look of disbelief. "I highly doubt that."

"Doesn't matter. I'm not good at asking girls out in the first place."

"Then how the hell did you two get together?"

"She asked me out."

Jade laughs. "Come on, Knight. Did she really?"

"Yeah, she did." he replies honestly. "I'm not that confident in asking girls out."

"Why?"

"Before Jo and I got together I used to ask girls out, but they always turned me down."

"I don't know if I really wanna know the reason or not."

"I'll tell you anyway. They turned me down because they're all shallow." he tells her with a sigh. "Apparently, I look weird."

Jade rolls her eyes. "You do not look weird. Trust me, if you did, I would tell you."

"Well, not everyone sees me that way."

"You need to boost your confidence." she says with a smirk. "How about a makeover?"

"Isn't that a girl thing?"

"I'm not gonna put lipstick on you, Blondie. I'm talking haircut and different clothes."

"What's wrong with my hair and clothes?"

"The hair is too much of a bowl cut and you own too much plaid."

"Does it really look that bad?" he asks as he runs his fingers through his hair.

"Just let me cut it and you'll be fine."

"You? I should let you cut my hair?"

Jade shrugs. "I cut mine all the time. You save money that way."

Kendall contemplates it, weighing out the pros and cons of Jade coming near his head with a pair of scissors. "You promise you won't make me look like an idiot?"

"Yes. Are you gonna let me do this?"

He sighs. "I guess so."

* * *

Half an hour later, Jade is placing the scissors down on the bathroom counter and taking the towel from around Kendall's neck.

"I still don't see why you didn't wanna watch."

"Because if I did, I wouldn't had let you do this."

Jade walks around and stands in front of him with a pleased smile on her face. "Well, I think I did a good job." she says.

"It doesn't look bad?"

"See for yourself."

Kendall lets out a breath and slowly turns around to look at himself in the mirror. He's pretty damn impressed with what Jade has done. His hair is completely shorter than what he's used to, but he's definitely not complaining.

"I have to admit, you did a good job."

"If there's one thing I know how to do it's use scissors."

"I look different."

"You look your age."

He turns around and leans against the counter. "Why're you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Being nice. I know we haven't really been arguing lately, but I'm still surprised you're being this nice to me."

"I don't know. I have to live with you, might as well be nice to you sometimes."

Kendall smiles. "That's sweet...even for you," he sticks his arms out in front of him. "Now give me a hug."

"And we're done here." Jade responds as she walks out the bathroom and down the hall to her room.

Kendall laughs and flips off the bathroom light. He follows her into her room and sits on the edge of her bed.

"I'm not giving you a hug." she tells him.

"That's not why I'm in here."

"Then why are you in here? I've helped you enough for the day."

"I thought about taking you up on your start dating again idea."

"Knight, there's no way in hell I'm going out with you."

"I don't wanna go out with you."

"Are you asking me to set you up?"

Kendall shakes his head. "I just want your opinion on my technique."

"You have a technique?" she asks with a laugh. "You didn't even ask your girlfriend of four years out. You expect me to believe you have a technique?"

"Girls may not had said yes, but look at me," he says as he motions at his body. "I'm adorable."

"Cocky, too."

"I'm not cocky, I was just saying. Will you check it out?"

"Fine, but if I laugh you can't get mad."

"Deal."

* * *

After helping Kendall with his flirting technique, Jade is more than ready to kick him out of her room — which she does. Kendall reluctantly leaves and goes across the hall to his bedroom. He begins to look at the clothes in his closet, trying to figure out what he should wear more, when his phone rings. He fishes it out his pocket and answers it without looking at who's calling.

"Hello?"

"Hey," a voice he knows all too well says back.

Kendall nearly drops the phone before responding. "Jo. Um. What's up? Why're you calling?"

"I was stupid."

"You were stupid?"

"It was wrong of me to break up with you that way and without any sort of explanation." she tells him. "You deserve better than that, Kendall. I'm so sorry."

Kendall can hear the sincerity in her voice and can't find it in him to be mad at her. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"No, it's not fine. That's why I'm calling you."

"Jo," he sighs beginning to pace around the room. "It's fine, really. Let it go."

"I miss you. I broke up with you because there was this guy, but two days after I ended it I realized he was nothing like you. No one will ever be like you, Kendall. All I want is you."

Jade's walking out of her room when she sees Kendall pacing back and forth in his room. "What's going on?" she asks.

Kendall holds up a finger, silently asking Jade to hold on. "I really don't want to talk about this." he tells Jo.

"I just want to know if we can start over?"

Jade stares at Kendall. "Who is it?" she whispers.

Kendall takes the phone away from his ear and covers the mouthpiece. "Jo. She wants to get back together."

"Are you gonna say yes?"

"I don't know."

"Don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't." she tells him. "She was willing to just throw your relationship away before what makes you think she won't do it again?"

"I can't tell her no."

"Why not?"

"Jo and I may be over, but she holds a special place in my heart."

Jade rolls her eyes and sighs. "If you're gonna be all Hallmark about it, give me the phone."

"Why?"

"If you're not gonna tell her, I will."

"Jade, no. I've got this." he tells her before he puts the phone back to his ear. "Jo?"

"Yeah? Is everything okay?"

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Kendall," she breathes out. "I know I'm a huge jerk for what I did, but I love you. Please."

"I'm sorry. I can't do it again."

"And you're absolutely sure?"

"I am. Goodbye, Jo." is all he says before hanging up and tossing his phone on his bed.

"Good for you, Blondie."

"Nothing was good about that."

"Why do you want her back?"

"I don't."

"You don't?"

"No. Yes. I don't know." he finishes with a sigh.

"She left you for a random guy."

"You don't think I know that, Jade? I get it! I don't need you to tell me that." he says, becoming annoyed.

"Excuse me for actually giving a damn about you for a change!"

"I'm a big boy, Jade. I don't need you to care about me right now. Right now, I just need you to leave."

"Fine. I don't give one fuck. I'll remember this when you want to actually bitch about it later." she tells him before walking out the room, slamming the door behind her in the process.

Kendall sighs and falls back onto his bed, wondering if he made the right decision.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious or Big Time Rush. They belong to Dan Schneider and Scott Fellows respectively.

**Author's Note: **Here we are with the ninth chapter. It starts and kind of ends on a dramatic note, but it's all good. You see more of the developed "friendship" Jade and Kendall have. You also discover a few more things about one of them. I won't tell you who, that's for you to read and find out all on your own. This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far. I hope you like it. Also, I refer to something about Jade towards the end and I mean no harm whatsoever by it, so don't feel insulted or anything. It's completely for story purposes only. Enjoy!

* * *

Eventually Kendall comes out of his room, deciding that he made the right decision about Jo. As much as he loved her, he wasn't willing to take that chance of getting hurt all over again. He also comes out because he needs to apologize to Jade for being so snippy with her earlier.

He walks into the living room, but he doesn't see Jade. He hears shuffling in the kitchen and makes his way in there. Jade's taking things out of the refrigerator, preparing to make a sandwich from what Kendall could tell, and ignoring the fact that Kendall's there. He knows she knows he's there, but chooses until she turns around to actually say something.

"I'm sorry." he tells her.

"Sing me a new tune." she replies with an eye roll.

"I really am. I know you were just trying to help."

"Whatever."

"I do appreciate that you cared. I know that's not like you. I was just frustrated; I didn't know what to do about Jo and I wasn't sure if I made the right decision."

Jade grabs the bread and begins making her sandwich. "I don't care."

"Jade," he sighs. "I'm sorry. I really and truly am sorry."

"Don't care. You said you were a big boy and didn't need me to care. Well, guess what, Knight? I don't."

"I know I said that. I didn't mean it, though."

Jade scoffs. "Sure sounded like you did."

"I've decided that Jo and I remaining broken up is the best idea."

"And I've decided I'm gonna go eat this sandwich and not give a damn." she tells him, but before she can get to the door, Kendall blocks her. "Move."

"Not until you listen to me."

"I told you I wasn't going to and I meant that."

"Please," he begs. "I know I shouldn't have said that. I just really need to talk to somebody."

"Then call your mom or your sister or Camille or anyone else who would care about you."

"You care about me."

"I cared about you at that moment. Now? Now I wish you would get the fuck out of my way and leave me alone."

Kendall reluctantly steps aside. "Go ahead."

Jade walks past him without a word and Kendall watches her walk away with a sigh as the door swings back closed.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Jade walks back into the kitchen and grabs a can of soda out of the refrigerator. She turns around to see Kendall sitting at the island, staring at her with puppy-dog eyes.

She takes a sip of her soda. "Stop staring at me."

"Then forgive me."

"I'm going to my room." she responds and walks out of the kitchen.

"Jade," he groans.

"What?"

"I just want to talk."

"I told you who to call. If you need to talk, call them!" she yells.

Kendall sighs and yells back, "I don't want to talk to _them_! I need _you_." he doesn't care if he sounds like a little child right this moment, he just feels the need to be honest.

Jade stops at her place in the living room and turns around slowly before walking back into the kitchen. "Why do you need me?"

"Because everyone else loves me too much. I need someone to tell me if I make the right decision and not care if they hurt my feelings. You give good advice. I need you."

"I already told you to break up with her. You did. What more do you need?"

"Even after making the decision, I still don't feel like it's the right one."

Jade walks out of the kitchen, but comes back shortly after with a notepad and pen in her hand and sets them in front of Kendall. "Here,"

"What?"

"You're gonna make a pros and cons chart."

"Really?" he asks in disbelief.

"You're the one who wanted my help."

"Okay, okay."

"This'll help you really decide if you and Jo should start things over."

"Are you sure this will actually help?"

"It works for me."

"Okay," he nods and picks up the pen. "Pros."

* * *

Kendall spends nearly an hour on the pros and cons list, eventually coming up with more pros than cons. Even though there are fewer cons, the ones that are listed are enough for Kendall to know he and Jo really don't belong together.

He gets up from his place at the island and walks out of the kitchen and makes his way to Jade's room where she's playing her keyboard.

She glances up at him. "What?"

"Your idea was a good one."

"I know."

"My decision was a good one. Jo and I really don't need to be back together."

"Did you have more cons than pros?"

"No," he responds and walks completely into her room, flopping down on the bed. "There were more pros, but the cons were a bunch of things I don't wanna have to deal with again."

"Good for you, Blondie." she tells him sarcastically. "Get outta my room. I'm busy."

"I'm just lying here."

"And breathing my air."

Kendall sits up. "That's just stupid."

"So, now I'm stupid?"

"I wasn't calling you stupid, I was calling what you said stupid."

"Same thing."

Kendall chooses not to make any further remark, he just changes the subject. "Still working on that song?"

"A new one."

"Can I hear it?"

"You're not completely in the clear, Knight. I'm still pissed at you. Which means, no, you can't hear it."

"After what I did for you earlier: covering for you at work, bringing you things to make you feel better, holding your hair back as you threw up, offering you to join me and Camille for dinner. After all that you can't look past one thing that I said?"

Jade frowns and lets out a long sigh as she turns around to face him. "I hate you so much right now."

He chuckles. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"Fine. You're forgiven."

"Now can I hear the song?"

"No."

"Why not? You forgave me."

"I want this one to remain a surprise."

Kendall nods understandingly. "Okay."

"Get out of my room."

"We never hang out in here."

"We never hang out at all."

"We do, but not a lot. That needs to change."

"No, it doesn't."

"Why can't we do things that normal roommates do?"

"Because I'm not a normal roommate, Knight."

"At times you are."

"Whatever." they say simultaneously.

"You think you're so damn funny when you do that."

"I do." he says with a chuckle.

"I really don't like you."

"Of course you don't like me, you love me."

"I only love myself, my mom, and at times Cat."

"Well, I love you."

"I don't know why. You hardly know me."

"I like to think I know you well enough." he tells her as he lies back down on the bed. "Even though you're not that nice, I still love you."

"You're such a Hallmark gift card."

"I love everybody." he says. "It's not a bad thing."

"Well, I don't. I tolerate them. If I love you, you should definitely feel lucky."

"You told me you loved me."

"I was drunk."

"You said you cared about me."

"That's completely diff-" she cuts off suddenly. "Knight, get out!"

Kendall sits back up with a smirk on his face. "Fine, I'll leave. You don't have to be so hostile about it. Damn."

"Out!" Jade yells, getting up and grabbing Kendall by the wrist. She pulls him up and off her bed and pushes him out the door.

"Love you," he singsongs before Jade slams the door in his face. "That was rude!" he yells.

"That was the point!"

* * *

The next morning, Kendall decided to drag Jade out of the house for the day and go out for breakfast. Jade, of course, didn't make an effort of getting ready quick enough, so by the time she was dressed, it was lunch time. Kendall drove to a little restaurant in uptown LA. Once they were seated and had their menus, Jade decided to start the conversation for a change.

"Where are we going after this?"

"Not sure. We'll think of somewhere."

"Dude, I know this sick basketball court that's hardly ever used, feel like playing?"

"Sure. Just know that you're gonna lose."

"I'll let you think that. We'll have to go back to our apartment and change, though."

Kendall nods. "Finally calling it our apartment, huh?"

"Did I? Didn't realize it."

"Of course you didn't, West. Of course you didn't."

After lunch, they go back to the apartment to change into some clothes appropriate for playing basketball and drive to the basketball court Jade was talking about.

"Okay, Knight. Prepare to lose."

"I'm pretty sure I've got this all under control."

Jade smirks. "Keep thinking that, but we both know I'm gonna win. I think we should place a wager."

"How about this: loser has to pay for everything for the next month."

"Perfect; that's money saved for me."

"Or me."

"Yeah, don't see that happening."

"Let's stop the talking and get on with the game."

"You've got it."

They play for more than half an hour in the Los Angeles heat before they make it to the last shot of the game.

"This is it, Jade. We're tied. Whoever makes this next shot wins."

"I'm not worried." she responds, dribbling the ball.

Kendall attempts to steal the ball from her, but Jade fakes a turn and when she does that she cries out in pain.

"Jade," Kendall starts worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"My ankle." Jade responds, holding the basketball underneath her arm.

"Does it feel sprained?"

"No, it feels like..." she starts before turning around and shooting the ball in the hoop. "It feels like I just won the game."

Kendall gapes. "I can't believe it."

"Woo! I won!"

"You cheated."

"Did I?" she asks sarcastically. "I don't think so."

"I can't believe I fell for that."

"Believe it, Kendall. You lost to a girl."

Kendall shakes his head. "Oh, you're paying for that."

Jade's eyes bug out for a moment before she takes off, she doesn't get too far before Kendall is grabbing her, picking her up in the process, and spinning her around. To his surprise, Jade doesn't get mad or irritated, she actually laughs.

"Kendall?" they hear a voice call out.

He turns around and sees Camille. "Oh," he says as he places Jade down. "Hi, Camille."

"Hey. Hi, Jade."

"Hey," she greets and pushes a piece of hair out of her face.

"What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I'm meeting my dad for lunch across the street. I saw your car and heard your voice, so I thought I'd come say hello."

Kendall nods. "We were just playing a little bit of basketball."

"I see. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah," Kendall excuses himself from Jade and follows Camille over near the other side of the court. "What's up?"

"So, you're not interested in her?" she asks with a smirk.

"We were just playing a friendly game of basketball."

"I walk over here to see her in your arms and hear you both laughing. I didn't even know she was capable of laughter."

"It's nothing, Camille."

"Why were you holding her anyways?"

Kendall sighs. "She tricked me into thinking she hurt herself before she shot the winning basket, I chased after her and happen to pick her up when I caught her. It's not a big deal."

"Kendall. I know you, okay? I can tell that you like her."

"I don't. Not in that way."

"You do. You're just oblivious and what the hell happened to your hair?"

"Jade offered to cut it for me, so I let her."

"Oh, you definitely like her. You hate other people cutting your hair."

He rolls his eyes. "I don't like, Jade. Don't you have to meet your dad?"

"I'm going, I'm going. I'll let you get back to playing with your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Sure, she isn't."

"Goodbye, Camille."

"Bye," she smiles and leaves.

He shakes his head and goes over to sit next to Jade. "I have to admit, you played a good game."

"I know. You did, too."

"I would've won if you didn't lie."

Jade chuckles and takes a sip of her water. "I highly doubt that."

"I would've," he comments and takes the bottle from her, taking a sip as well.

"I told you to bring your own."

Kendall shrugs. "Well, I didn't."

"Play again?"

"No, you'll just cheat. Plus, I wanna take a shower."

"Yeah, I'm with you on that." she stands up and grabs the basketball and begins to walk to the entrance of the gate. "Come on, Kendall!" she yells back.

He sits there for a moment, thinking about what Camille said. He does like being around Jade, he likes her being upfront, he likes her personality — or at least most of it, he also likes her eyes and smile, especially her laugh when it's genuine. He likes listening to her sing and watching her play her keyboard. He likes how she gets when she feels like being nice to him. Even though he hasn't known her that long, he can't seem to deny it this time. He likes Jade.

"Holy shit," he whispers, coming to the realization. "I like Jade."

* * *

The drive back to the apartment is filled with awkward silence; Kendall can't seem to bring himself to start a conversation. Jade wonders why, but doesn't say anything, she simply turns on the radio and focuses her attention on the music.

They separate when they walk through the door, each to go take a shower and when Kendall gets out, he immediately grabs his phone and calls Camille.

"Hello?"

"You jinxed me."

Camille laughs. "What're you talking about?"

"About Jade. I thought about it and you wanna know what I realized?"

"What?"

"I like her."

"Kendall, that's great!"

"How? How is me liking Jade a good thing?"

"I think she's good for you. There's something about you when you talk about her and when you're around her that I never saw between you and Jo. Something that's good."

"Jade and I are complete opposites, we don't belong together."

"Haven't you heard that opposites attract?"

"How am I supposed to hang out with her now?"

"The exact same way. You like her. So what? Nothing should change unless you tell her."

He puts Camille on speaker phone as he goes to put his boxers and jeans on. "Things already changed, the car ride home was nothing but awkward silence."

"And whose fault is that?"

He sighs. "Mine, but that's only because I realized my feelings for her just moments before."

"Are you gonna ask her out?"

"I-" he cuts off when Jade appears in his doorway. "Hang on, Camille." he tells her before turning back to Jade. "What's up?"

"I wanna take you somewhere if you're up to it."

Kendall can tell by her voice that something's wrong. "Okay," he picks his phone back up. "Camille, I'll call you back later." he waits for her to hang up before he turns his attention back to Jade. "Are you okay?"

Jade blinks a few times before saying, "I'm fine. Just finish getting dressed, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be out there in a few."

* * *

Jade drives them to some ally downtown. She parks the car and gets out and walks down the ally. She keeps walking until she gets to where she wants to be and stops and stares at the brick wall in front of her. Kendall stands next to her and looks at the wall as well. He sees a bunch of graffiti on the wall; judging by the style, he assumes it's done by the same person over and over again.

There are words like, "help" and "lonely" spray painted. There are also phrases like, "nobody loves me" and "I wish I was never born". There's a girl that's been spray painted with tears on her face and a knife in her hand like she's gonna stab herself. He stares at the girl and then looks at Jade.

"Did you do this?"

Jade nods and sighs.

"Why?"

"I wanted to kill myself a few years ago." she whispers. "I hated my life. I felt like nobody wanted me. My dad hated me and all he did was put me down and make me feel worse about myself every single day. I just wanted to escape it all."

"You talked to him again today, didn't you?"

Jade nods again as a tear falls from her eye and she wipes it away angrily. "I don't understand why he hates me so much. I don't know why he calls me just to tell me how much he's ashamed of me. More importantly, I don't know why I keep answering expecting he's going to change." she tells him before completely breaking down.

Kendall pulls her into his arms and rubs her back soothingly, resting his chin on her head. "You don't need him. You're so much better than what he tells you. You don't need that kind of person in your life."

"He's right, though. No one really likes me. The only person who does is my mom."

"Cat likes you."

"Cat tolerates me. I can tell sometimes that I'm not her favorite person to be around. I'm always surprised when she wants to hang out with me."

"I like you." he tells her and those words have never been more true.

He feels Jade shake her head. "You have to say that. You're my roommate."

"If I didn't like you, I would walk away right now. I wouldn't put up with the attitude you have sometimes. I wouldn't have offered you a job at the café or help you learn how to play the guitar." he gently pushes Jade back. "You're dad is a fucking idiot. _You_ are amazing."

"Maybe if I didn't act like such a bitch, he would care about me."

"You're not a bitch."

"Come on, Kendall. You even called me one."

Kendall cringes at the memory. "I know, but I only said it in the heat of the moment. I assure you I didn't mean it. You've actually been really nice lately."

Jade sniffs. "I just want someone besides my mom to care about me."

"I care about you. I've told you that. You know that I do. Whether this roommate thing works out or not, I'll always care about you, Jade."

Jade smiles a little. "Thank you," she tells him. What she does next really takes him by surprise. She actually gives him a hug.

"Mind if I take a photo of this? I never thought you would actually hug me."

She laughs and pushes him away. "Not a chance."

"It was worth a shot." he shrugs with a smile. "Come on, let's go do something less depressing."

"Sounds good to me."


End file.
